Nature Republic BB Cream

          BB cream is a type of foundation that has SPF and is also said to be better for your skin than the typical foundations. My first ever BB cream was Nature Republic BB cream, which is a Korean cosmetics brand. This particular BB cream has SPF 46, collagen and is waterproof. I remember walking inside Nature Republic and saw the bb cream section. I picked this bb cream up and squeezed a little bit on my wrist. The color matches my wrist pretty well so I decided to get it. I have never really heard of bb cream before going to Korea, so why not give it a try? In Korea, I did hear lots of good things about bb cream. Oh and I also saw K-pop singers in commercial for bb cream too. I guess bb cream is a must try. 

           I think I was in Korea for about 2 weeks before I actually tried on the bb cream. I remember getting up in the morning for class and took the bb cream out to try. I applied it on my bare face without any primers or anything and thought I saw a ghost in the mirror. This bb cream was too light for my face....I guess I got a lot tanner after being in Korea. So, I didn't use it and waited until winter to try it again. Winter worked out better for me, even though the bb cream was still towards the light side. Nature Republic's bb cream is relatively smooth, but it makes my face feel a bit oily by the end of the day. Also, it can smear pretty easily. I'm still going to use it though and find ways to make it work. 

Boots Botanics Soothing Eye Makeup Remover

          This is actually my second time buying boots Botanics eye makeup remover. I'm still relatively new in using liquid eye makeup removers, so I like to buy different brands to try. Last year, I was running out of liquid eye makeup remover and I didn't want to get the same remover because it irritated my eyes. I took a trip to target and decide to try a different brand, a brand that is more natural. That was when I found boots eye makeup remover. This makeup remover is slightly priced higher than other makeup removers as like most natural products, but I still want to give it a try. 

           Boots Botanics eye makeup remover is oil based and thus can be messy to apply. Also, thiseye makeup  remover feels more oily than the oil free eye makeup removers as it is oiled based. However, the opening of the bottle is not too big so it's not easy to pour out too much product. I don't remember my eyes feeling a bit irritated when I used this remover. 

            I'm about to run out of my Neutrogena oil-free eye makeup remover and so I needed to get a new bottle of eye makeup remover. I went to target and picked this remover up without even thinking about other brands. Although I could have tried another brand, but I chose this remover because I know I can use it with no problem. 

Maybelline Baby Lips Electro Lip Balm: Strike a Rose

          Maybelline is a well known drug store brand and I have used their cosmetics in the past. I think it was last year that they launched baby lips lip balm and I bought the one with SPF. I bought it because I want a lip balm that can protect my lips from uv rays and I've been using this lip balm all the time. 

          Maybelline introduced the baby lips electro lip balm with very bright colors not long after the launch of baby lips. I finally went shopping last week and decided that I want a bright lip color. I was walking down the cosmetics isle and found the baby lips collection. The electro lip balms really strike my eyes and so I got the strike a rose color. This color looked like a neon pink and I was hoping that the color would the same when I apply it. Right after I came back to my place, I immediately applied the lip balm on my lips. My first reaction was disappointment. I saw that this color is very similar to a color that I already own and is not as bright as it looks on my lips. So, I decided that it was not a great purchase. 

         Yesterday, I applied this lip balm again, but swiped it across my lips a few more times. This time around the pink color popped out more and didn't looked bad at all. Maybe the first time when I used it, I only applied one layer on so the color couldn't pop out. So, now I feel slightly better about my purchase. Also, this lip balm smells like berries (what a plus). My goal now is to try more bright colors (maybe I'm watching too much Korean dramas...).  

Neutrogena's Norwegian Formula Hand Cream

          I started using lotion for the sake of the nice smell that they give off and I wanted to moisturize my hands. As I got older, I continued to buy lotions that smell good, but I realized that the lotions that I've been buying has no effect in moisturizing my hands. My hands were still dry and those lotions feel really oily.  It takes a long time for the lotions to dry off. 

          Just last year, my mom bought Neutrogena's Norwegian hand cream and I tried it when I went back home for break. She bought it because it was on sale and she said that this cream improved her  dry skin.  So, she suggested me to try putting some on. The lotion felt thick and is totally different from the creamy/oily lotion that I normally use.  I squeezed some on my hands and it dried pretty fast. I actually felt that my hands were actually moisturized. This cream can be used on your elbows, knees, face and lips. I'm so glad that I tried it because the cream works way better than the brands I normally use. 

Clinique Acne Solutions Liquid Makeup

          Hmmmmm, where should I start? Oh right, FOUNDATION. This word sounds so familiar and yet a bit foreign. I think I have heard the word foundation since a long time ago even before knowing what it was. If my memories were right, then the first time I became aware of the word was when I was looking through my mom's makeup box. Foundation is the tanish liquid that my mom uses every morning before heading to work. I didn't quite understood why she used it and what purpose did the foundation serve at the time. 

           Fast forward to 2011, I finally understan what foundation was as I tried it my myself. My sister got me a foundation set for Christmas because I told her I want some coverup to hide my acne scars. The foundation set is powder based because I have acne prone skin so liquid based foundations may make my skin more oily. I was really surprised on how different the foundation made me look (in terms of covering scars). From then on, I never stopped using that set until it ran out. After using the foundation set up, I'm left with a big question. What should I try next? As if it was fate, on my trip to Korea I tried BB cream. BB cream is the first liquid foundation that I have used (will have a post about BB experience later). Since BB cream, I tried different foundations, but none of them satisfied me. Most of those foundations either made my blackheads super obvious, coming off too fast or making my skin feel and look oily. I looked for YouTube beauty gurus to see if they had some good foundations to share. But in order to look like the beauty gurus, I realized that many steps are involved to achieve flawless looking skin. So, I completely stopped using foundation after almost two years of using it. I have been just doing my eyes and brows these past 6 months. 

             Today, my skin looked quite bad after not getting enough sleep in these past few days when I got up this morning. So, I decide to try foundation again since I do have some samples that I have yet to try. I picked up sample cliniques acne solution liquid makeup in hopes that it will help cover scars as well as not making my acne worst. This foundation looks like any other liquid foundation. However, it felt different when I put it on my face. The color of it matched my skin color well and my blackheads didn't seem so obvious. My skin didn't look oily nor did the foundation came off a lot after going to work, school and meeting. I think I found my match. I got pretty impressed and even thought about buying it in the near future. Just to let you know: I did use a primer before applying the foundation and finished my makeup by applying powder foundation. Recently, samples are rising in importance and I personally think that it is good to try something before buying because you never know if the item fits you or not. 

Clarisonic Mia2

          I have had my clarisonic mia2 for over a year by now. Wow, time really flew by fast. There are always ads in magazines on clarisonic and it presents research on how effective it is on cleaning your skin. So, I did have my eye on clarisonic for a decent amount time because I have acne prone skin and have always been seeking ways to improve my skin. It took me a while to buy clarisonic just because of the price. Clarisonic arrived on the day of my birthday and I remember how excited I was to try it. I bought the clarisonic mia2 in pink with the sensitive skin brush head. Originally, I wanted to get the clarisonic with an acne cleansing brush head, but I decided not too since the price of it was higher and I know I can buy refills. I remember reading reviews about the sensitive brush head, which touched on how the sensitive brush head was harsher than the normal brush head. When I tried using my mia2 the first time, I tried to not push it hard against my skin since I have never tried it before and because of the reviews. The brush did feel quite rough the first few times, but I gradually got used to it. Also, I did breakout after using my mia2, but then again my skin didn't breakout as much gradually. I use my mia2 3 days a week because it is an exfoliating cleanser. My usual routine after using the cleanser is to put on a mask because it exfoliates my skin so I think it would help my skin absorb better. I noticed that the cleanser opened up my pores, which made it easier for my pore strips to pull out the blackheads. The directions for the cleanser states that you can use it when showering, but I never did that. I guess I just don't like to do so much things during my shower. 

              Not long ago I was able to buy the acne cleansing brush heads because of my part time job. This brush head is definitely softer than the sensitive one, which I had no problem with. So, was clarisonic mia2 effective in improving my acne prone skin? I have to say that every time I use mia2, it makes my skin feel smoother. Also, I feel that it helps to clear the dirt and dead skin cells from my skin. Although I still have acne, I kept on using this cleanser because I know my acne can be caused by other factors like bad sleeping habits. This cleanser might not work for everybody as I too don't know the real results from using this cleanser (not a scientist). Everyone's beauty routine and habits differ so I would suggest to be open minded to try new things. 

            

P.s. I really like the green color though :)

Tarte Amazonian Clay Waterproof Cream Eyeshadow

          I have been using powder eyeshadow ever since I started using makeup. The texture of powder is very fluffy and there's almost always fallout. Glittery eyeshadows have the worst fallouts. A few years ago I bought an eyeshadow cream pencil, but I remember it being dry and the colors weren't so good either. Therefore, I kept on using powder because that's what I'm used to. However, I buy different brands in hopes of finding powder eyeshadows with least fallouts. I have also heard that powders also emphasizes fine lines, so I want to try eyeshadows that aren't powder based.

          Last year, I discovered cream eyeshadow, which is a type of eyeshadow that I've never really notice. The cream shadow was from marykay and it's really smooth and easy to apply. At first I used an eyeshadow brush, but it was just too hard to apply so I switched to using my ring finger. After using my finger, the shadow is more evenly spread and looked way better than using the eyeshadow brush. Since the beginning of this year, I've been wanting to get some more cream eyeshadow to try, but I was a little lazy so didn't really executed my plan. 

          Yesterday I got the chance to go to the mall and decided that it is the time for me to get cream eyeshadow. After looking around, I finally decided to buy Tarte's Amazonian Clay Waterproof Eyeshadow in slate. Slate has a grey tint and is sparkly. I try the eyeshadow on this morning and it was actually a bit disappointing. The opening was smaller than my marykay eyeshadow, so it was a struggle trying to use my ring finger. Also, the eyeshadow does not feel creamy at all and felt really dry and hard. After using my ring finger to apply the shadow on one eye, I finally picked up my eyeshadow brush and used it to apply the shadow on my other eye. The color is really not bad, but just the texture was the problem. Guess I have to experience with other brands to find the cream shadow for me.