theFACEshop

A few duds!

Hi everyone! 🙂 Well after my not so positive review of the Kiss Nail Dress product the other week (if you haven’t read it yet, click here), I wanted to avoid other reviews of things I don’t like so much for a while. I like to be honest in my reviews, so am not afraid of giving constructive criticism where it’s due, but I also don’t want to look like I’m whinging! :-0

Nevertheless, I have used another two products recently (haha yep I’ve been unlucky huh?!) which have been disappointing. They are both from popular brands so I thought it worth sharing my thoughts on them as you may consider buying either of them in the future. (Oh – and “duds” = defective in plural form. :))

So here goes! 🙂

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Dud #1 – THEFACESHOP’s White Mud Nose Pack

Price: I picked this up for $9 AUD on sale.

Where can I get it? Exclusive to THEFACESHOP

I’d read a lot of positive reviews from overseas bloggers about this product at the time I bought it, approximately 4 months ago now. However, I didn’t actually get around to trying it until the weekend. It promotes itself as being equivalent to the “pore strips” (such as from Biore) but I thought it could be a lot better, because it is in gel form so it would be easier to apply to any area where there are blackheads is congestion (sounds nicer as “congestion” hm?! ;)).

I tested it on my nose which is a congestion prone area for me. Unfortunately, despite following the instructions, NONE of the congestion was removed by the product! 😦 I waited half an hour to give my skin a rest (though it was a very gentle product) and used a Biore strip instead – it sucessfully removed the congestion.

So glad I got this on sale as it didn’t perform! However, given the positive reviews I’d seen, did I perhaps simply receive a bad batch (especially given it was on sale)???

Beautiful rating – quality 1/5, value 1/5 (it does not do what it claims to be able to do).

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Dud #2: Rimmel I Love Lasting Finish nail polish in Black Cherries (#193)

image: amazon.co.uk

Price: I also got this on sale, for approx. $2.50 AUD.

Where can I get it? Kmart, other discount deparment stores, various supermarkets and chemists.

When I saw this deep plum I thought “pretty!” so was quick to scoop it up. 🙂 However the big let down with this product was its staying power. I applied this to my nails last night whilst watching TV, and it began noticeably chipping the next morning as I was going about my usual business, getting ready for work! I had not applied a top coat, but I still think it performed very poorly. Especially when “lasting finish” is in the product’s name! :-0

Check out the chipping on my nails by the time I’d got home from work, where I was only doing light administrative duties (I’m gripping my car’s steering wheel! :)):

Beautiful rating: quality 2/5 (nice colour but doesn’t last!), value 2/5 (I guess you get what you pay for?! :)).

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Oh yeahhhh, Friday tomorrow! Can’t wait till the weekend! 🙂 I’m looking forward to catching up with friends and also doing some more “benkyo no nihongo” (Japanese study) as the class I attend starts again soon! What do you guys have planned for the weekend? 🙂

THEFACESHOP: Raspberry Roots Collagen Eye Patch

Happy Thursday! 🙂

Tonight I’m reviewing this:

I’m starting to get some fine lines around my eyes, particularly when I smile, and so tried this THEFACESHOP product out! (To provide some context: I’m late 20s, combination to oily skin, don’t smoke, don’t tan, moisturise, use sunscreen regularly, try to remember to wear my sunnies when outdoors all year round…!) It claims to be an “intense eye lift mask” which works to “soothe the eye area” and create “more youthful skin”, as well as boosting endorphins! (LOL that’s the first time I’ve found a beauty product that specifically claims to do that! :))

Here are my thoughts…

Price range: I picked up two packages (each package contains 2 eye patches, 1 for each eye) for $9.95 AUD.

Where can I get it? Exclusive to THEFACESHOP.

You have to be careful taking the eye patches out, as they are in a plastic tray and if you happen to open the package upside down (which you won’t know until you open it!) they could fall out on the floor! (Luckily this didn’t happen to me, phew!) here you can see the patches in their tray, which looks a bit like an odd blurry line (ok ok I need a better camera! ;)):

The patches have a slight berry fragrance and have an unusual appearance, a bit like a firm mesh like jelly! When you put them under each eye you can feel the skin tightening straight away, but it isn’t unpleasant… in fact it feels quite refreshing!

40 minutes later… (I left them on for the recommended time) I felt relaxed and my face felt fresh, but I can’t say I necessarily had an endorphin boost! 😛 Unfortunately I didn’t notice much difference in my fine lines! Perhaps this is something that you need to use over a longer period of time to get optimum results, as the packaging does indicate it is designed to promote collagen production in one’s own skin, which would take time… For now I’ll just keep remembering to wear my huge sunnies when I’m out in the sun! 😛 (and to keep moisturising day and night haha!)

Nevertheless, due to the reasonable cost this product may be worth you trying to see if you get different results!

Beautiful rating: quality 2/5, value 1/5 (it felt lovely on my skin but didn’t seem to work for me, hence I can’t say it is great quality or value :()

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Don’t forget to enter my Christmas giveaway comp! 🙂 Open to all, worldwide! 🙂 I look forward to reading more beauty tips!!! xx

theFACEshop cereal rice mask sheet

Well I promised I’d be doing a few posts, right? 😉

Before I forget, I want to let readers know that I have some more guy’s product reviews coming up soon. Just letting people know so that people don’t think I’ve forgotten about that aspect of the blog!

I’m a big fan of face mask sheets. (For those who haven’t seen or used them, they are usually a thin cotton sheet the size of your face with holes cut out for your eyes, lips etc and the sheet is soaked in serums and other goodies for your skin.) Why?

• They’re efficient – simply whip them out of the packet and pop them on your face;
• Less mess – after removing from your face usually you can simply throw the mask in the bin and pat excess serum/mask ingredients into your skin rather than having to fuss about washing the mask off;
• You can usually buy several different types of sheet mask for the same price as one tube of multiple use facial mask pastes/lotions (good if you’re not sure what suits you!); and
• They look cool! (Well, when I put them on I look like an alien but I think it’s funny ;))

I do, however, concede that they are not as environmentally friendly as masks that you use out of a tube or pot.

There are 3 sheet face masks that I’m a big fan of at the moment – one I’ll save for a future review, one is THEFACESHOP’s Vita B mask (they have been out of stock for aaaages at my local store :’-( ) and the third is the THEFACESHOP’s Cereal Rice Mask Sheet.

Below are some photos of the packaging for this product – both front and back – so that you can also get an idea of what the mask looks like (it’s a dark colour on the packaging but is actually white when you take it out of the packet):

Price range: these are approx. $4 AUD each however at my local THEFACESHOP outlet they currently have a “buy 3 get 1 free” promotion which makes it even better value!

Where can I get it? Exclusive to THEFACESHOP

This mask does not have any particular perfume or fragrance, which I liked (less likely to irritate the skin!). I found that the particular shape of these masks (see the image above – the shape is exactly like that!) is a little small in some places and a bit too big in others, but you can usually easily move it around or fold pieces of the mask out the way so it sits comfortably.

I’ve bought several of these masks (they are designed for 1 use only) and every time have found it to have a soothing and moisturising effect on my skin, without making my skin too oily. My face always feels both soft and nice and refreshed when I use this mask.

There are many different face mask sheets that you can get at THEFACESHOP and if you have a store in your area I recommend taking a look as the variety is quite interesting! In this particular range I noticed they also had a cherry and an acerola (what is that?!) variety, as well as several others.

I will keep buying this mask unless I find one I like better from THEFACESHOP or elsewhere. (I have a bit of a routine where I use a mask once a week – each week I rotate through the different ones I have so it provides my skin with some variety! :)) However, it’s best to get them when they are on sale (as I do!) because the cost can add up fast.

Beautiful rating: quality 5/5, value 4/5 (if paying full price; I’ve noticed another Korean brand, Tony Moly‘s sheet masks, are RRPing cheaper in Adelaide shops – haven’t tried that brand yet but I want to! 🙂 Has anyone else tried Tony Moly???)

power perfection BB cream

Hey! Hope everyone’s been having a good day. 🙂

Well, Garnier has released its first “BB” cream for the Australian market recently (and nooo I haven’t tried it yet!). I’m not sure how well it’s doing, as BB creams are new to most Aussie women. (Garnier’s BB cream is on sale as of Thursday at Priceline if you are keen to try it! :))

BB creams are very popular in Asia, particularly South Korea, and so you can usually find these creams from brands originating from that part of the world, such as THEFACESHOP. What is BB cream? Well, the BB stands for Blemish Balm. In a nutshell, my understanding is that BB cream is a form of tinted moisturiser in which the moisturiser component tends to have a lot of groovy extra ingredients including but not limited to antioxidants and high SPF. Some creams have anti-acne properties whilst others have anti-ageing ingredients, or whitening ingredients, and so on. The cream also tends to have better coverage than tinted moisturisers, which can be very sheer indeed!

So how handy is that? A tinted moisturiser that goes beyond the standard ones by adding helpful ingredients and good coverage. You could end up  saving a lot of time in that you dont need to put on moisturiser then concealer and then your foundation.

Hence, when I was lucky to pick up some free samples of THEFACESHOP’s Power Perfection BB Cream I was stoked! (You might wonder why I keep getting free samples from them – I buy their sheet facial masks regularly and so they’ll pop in a sample or two for me each time I shop there. 😉 I will review the sheet masks soon!) This particular BB cream is designed to provide medium coverage and has anti ageing properties including a decent SPF of 37.

Here are my thoughts:

 Price range: approx. $50 AUD (!) for 40ml

Where can I buy it? Exclusive to THEFACESHOP… you may be able to find it online (eBay etc) too.

Unlike the foundation I’d sampled recently from the same brand, this sample clearly stated its shade – Natural Beige. This seemed promising! I took a couple of photos (sorry about the dodgy lighting :() to give you an idea of what the colour actually looked like – it turned out to be fine for me. However. just in case of colour disasters, again I made sure to try this out on a day I wasn’t planning on going out anywhere (LOL! :)).

(Due to the bad lighting I took 2 photos… sorry about the pic quality!)

The texture of the cream was similar to that of a liquid foundation, and I remembered the shop assistant’s advice – to “pat pat pat” the cream onto the skin, rather than rubbing it in as you would a standard moisturiser. Unfortunately the “pat pat pat” technique didn’t really suit the consistency of the cream, as it was then too thick on my skin. So I decided to just carefully smooth it over my face as I usually would with a foundation. It did not have any particular scent which I was pleased with, as my skin can be on the sensitive side.

I’m very impressed with this product. The cream provided a good amount of coverage – but not too heavy – and my skin looked natural but flawless. It had a slightly dewy finish but unlike the THEFACESHOP foundation I previously tried, I did not look melted by the end of the day! A little of the product goes a long way; I did not need all of the 1ml sample package. It was easy to remove at the end of the day with liquid face wash and water.

As I was fortunate to receive two samples of this product, I also tried it out on a day I was due to go to work. I work in an office environment but have to walk a reasonable distance to and from public transport and I like to go outside for a walk during my lunch break. (So it was going to really get exposed to the elements! ;)) Again it performed really well and still looked good, with no touchups, when I went to take it off at night!

After my experience with this product I’m very tempted to buy it! I already have a lot of makeup that I’m happy with, so if I do buy this I’ll be most likely to use it on work days as they’re the days I tend to have to get ready in a rush (& so could save a lot of time with a BB cream rather than my usual routine). Unfortunately, when I visited my local store to get some today, it was completely sold out. 😦 So it seems others are very happy with it too!

Beautiful rating: quality 5/5, value 4/5. It is a great product but due to the packaging used in the full sized bottles I’m not sure if it would last very long… and I think that is an important factor as it is not cheap.

For more information: when doing some reading on BB creams to broaden my own knowledge, this particular article stood out. It even includes videos!  http://www.squidoo.com/b-b-cream

phytogenic infinite foundation

Any THEFACESHOP fans here??? 😀

I enjoy browsing at my local store and use a few of their products. Some I’ve tried have been excellent, others less so. The thing I enjoy most about this brand is that the sales assistants always give you samples of other products to try! (Which I guess from a business perspective makes good sense too – makes it more likely people will return to buy more of your products!)

Anyway, I was lucky to get a sample of this foundation recently. Here are my thoughts:

Price range: at the moment it’s $39.99 AUD for a 35ml bottle.

Where can I buy it? Exclusive to THEFACESHOP.

I decided to try this out on a day I wasn’t due to go anywhere. Just as well, as the shade was not specified on the packet… I looked a bit like an oompa loompa (orange to those who have not seen Charlie & The Chocolate Factory)! You can see the shade relative to my skin tone here:

That aside, it was easy and smooth to apply, with good coverage. At the same time, you only needed a little bit to do a lot! (The sample was 1ml and there was a little bit left over when I’d finished applying it.) It also has SPF protection, but a rating of 20 (so don’t forget a moisturiser with SPF 30+ underneath). Due to the SPF content it does leave a slightly dewy or shiny finish. I thought it looked really nice, aside from the slightly too orange shade!

It also contains other interesting ingredients, which is typical for this brand, such as green tea extract, honey extract, gingko biloba leaf extract, and kaki leaf extract. It would be interesting to do some research on these! What do people think about the addition of such ingredients? Does it really improve the efficacy of the product?

It’s marketed as a “long wearing full coverage foundation”, so I left it on all day whilst I went about things, which included a 10k bike ride (on an exercise bike indoors ;)) and gardening outside. Unfortunately it did not seem to last any longer than my usual foundation, which is not from this brand. If wanting to keep your face looking fresh all day with this foundation I’d recommend packing a pressed powder in your bag for touch ups.

When it came time to remove it, it came off easily with liquid face wash and water.

I’d be willing to try this again in a colour closer to my skin tone, but not sure if it’s worth the money given it’s average staying power.

Beautiful rating: quality 2/5, value 2/5