First venture into Paul & Joe Beaute

Actually this is my second visit to P&J; my first was for their beauty mirror (I don't know where it is atm though).

There was a 20% off ASOS offer so I took this opportunity to get a couple of things from P&J; I wanted a foundation too but wasn't sure which shade to go for so passed on it. I'll be going to London soon anyway and will wait till then to look at foundation shades in person.

I picked out:
- P&J Hand Cream
- P&J Face Color in 15 Re Belle (it had to be pink!)

Paul & Joe Face Color
I believe Re Belle is one of the newly released colours; it comes in a very pretty light dusty pink mirrored compact, and the blush itself is split into 2 colours.


On the left is a matte rosy pink and the colour on the right looks coral/peach but when applied is more of a sparkling peach pink, which has a very subtle shimmer and gives a pretty glow when used over the rosy pink, but both colours could be used on their own too.


Texture is silky smooth and very blendable. You can use a small amount for a natural flush, or build it up for more intensity, however, the blush itself isn't ultra pigmented so if you're after a pigmented blush this isn't it.

The rosy pink is actually a bit too pink for me but I apply my blush with a light hand (I prefer them sheer/natural) anyway so it's not a big problem.

Paul & Joe Hand Cream
Usually I don't like hand creams much, because the ones I've tried so far always sat on the surface of my hands for ages, even ones that claim to absorb quickly; I absolutely hate leaving fingerprints on everything I touch so I don't bother with a hand cream unless it's just before I go to bed.


I added P&J Hand Cream to basket because I liked the cute tin it came in - most hand creams come in a squeeze tube, which is more hygienic but this is for my use only anyway. Sometimes I'm such a sucker for cute packaging... *sigh*

There's a protective plastic lid inside to stop the cream from getting onto the actual lid.

The cream itself feels creamy and luxurious, but doesn't leave an uncomfortable greasy film like a lot of hand creams. There's a very pleasant light orange scent, but it disappears quickly which is good news if you don't like fragranced hand care products.

I guess it's unrealistic to expect any cream to sink in straight away - even with lightweight moisturizers they always sit on your skin for a few seconds at least - but this is hands down the fastest absorbing hand cream I've tried; after a few seconds the only thing left behind is the softness of my hands. The pretty tin will look cute sitting on my desk too! 80g of product in the tin may not seem like a large amount, but only a little cream is needed so it will last ages.

As my P&J experience has been positive so far, I'm actually really looking forward to visiting their counter soon!

Etude House Moistfull Collagen Balm SPF36

When Etude House released their new Moistfull Collagen range of mostly skincare products, this balm especially stood out because its name made it sound like an all in one skin perfecting product with sun protection thrown in. The swirly pattern & compact it comes in looked cute too, so without much hesitation into my cart it went.

The box it comes in is rather big, but it holds the mirrored pact, a handy replacement sponge and a 10ml sample size of Moistfull Collagen Cream. The packaging of the compact is in a fat pearly peach coloured plastic casing with a semi reflective shiny plastic thing on the top; it does absolutely nothing so I guess it's there for decorational purposes.


Inside the compact there's another sponge on a holder which separates it from the actual balm - a rather nice feature in my opinion. The swirly balm looked so pretty that I almost couldn't bear to use and smudge it up.

Dark swirls are foundation, white swirls are moisture cream.

According to the promotional pics you can use the sponge for different areas of the face depending on how much of the sponge you use, but I find it much easier using fingers because the included sponge gives a somewhat blotchy finish. The balm texture is creamy, smooth and very easy to spread.

I really wanted to like this pretty balm, but it's pink toned and looks unnatural on me (usually NC15 sometimes NC20 in MAC) in that it's very easy to tell I'm wearing foundation. You can see the obvious mismatch even when swatched on my arm. Coverage is medium and a little cakey unless applied with a light hand.


There's also a white cast (it does say "whitening" on the box but powdery white is not a good look) when I first apply it, although this does go away after a while. Also this balm really highlights any dry patches on my face - so much for moisturizing, heh. I tried patting it on gently with the sponge, and using my fingers but both yielded pretty much the same powdery result.

All in all I'm pretty disappointed with this, so I'm sending it to my makeup drawer to gather dust.

Mine was purchased from Gmarket for 16,500KRW (around $14).

Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Minty Lip Shine - Bubbleminty

I've wanted to try out the Beauty Rush Minty Lip Shine since reading rave reviews about it, plus I love pretty much all things minty so it seemed like a perfect gloss for me. Unfortunately at the time of ordering, the only shade in stock was the orginal Clear Shine but I was more interested in Bubbleminty (listed as Pink on the VS site for some odd reason) so decided to wait.


When it finally arrived I wasted no time in tearing off the small plastic wrapper, eager to see if it lived up to my expectations. As soon as I sniffed it I was greeted by a delicious wave of minty bubblegum which was both sweet and very refreshing.

The gloss comes out a light pink with sparse shimmer but is clear & smooth when applied, very glossy, non sticky and hydrating too - pretty much everything I look for in a lipgloss. Plus the peppermint oil makes my lips feel cool (but not tingly). Best of all it even tastes like bubblegum (and makes me want to eat...)!!


I can definitely feel its breath freshening effects when I wear it, and it is quite long lasting as well, although the minty feel wears off before the actual gloss does. As it starts to wear off it doesn't leave a tacky residue like some glosses do. Although I think this is more of a gloss/balm hybrid rather than a pure gloss, I would choose a more nourishing balm just for chapped lips or as an overnight treatment.

The downside of this is that I now want other flavours as well in particular the spearmint, strawberry mint and possibly vanilla mint.

The Beauty Rush glosses are always on offer anyway - $7 each, 2 for $12 or 5 for $20 so I might just take this opportunity to add a few to my next VS order!

Another visit to Gmarket

So I couldn't resist the calling of Gmarket and placed another order for some Etude House items - mostly skincare stuff, plus 2 more tubes of Glow Base Sun Guard because it is that awesome

Nicely bubble wrapped

This time my order took less than a week to arrive from when I placed it. As soon as Gmarket received everything from the seller they shipped out my order via EMS, and because it wasn't stopped by customs it came straight through to me!


There were tubes of sun protection:
- Aqua Drop Sun Guard SPF33 PA++
- Glow Base Sun Guard SPF36 PA++ x 2
- Super Aqua Sun Guard SPF35 PA++
- White Aqua Sun Guard SPF50+ PA++

And a few items from the recently released Moistfull Collagen range:
- Moistfull Collagen Cream (full size cream, mini jar of cream & tube of essence in box)
- Moistfull Collagen Balm SPF36
- Moistfull Collagen Eye Cream
I don't always use a toner or serum so I just picked up a few basics. I didn't bother with their Code B stuff; they didn't look like what I would normally go for.

The Secret eSpoir Perfumed Body Travel Kit (never heard of, and the scent is too strong for my taste) and Moistfull Collagen Special Kit (contains handy travel sizes of Facial Freshener, Emulsion, Essence and Cream) were freebies. Oh there was a little heart shaped dangly thing too.

It's a good thing that banila co hasn't released any new items I want since my last order, otherwise this one would've been a lot bigger

banila co Eye Love Eye Primer

banila co offers two editions of Eye Love Eye Primer duos; these are 01 Purity (lemon/skin beige) and 02 Temptation (white/pink). Typical of me I went for the pretty white/pink combo - figured I could maybe use the pink as a highlighter too.

I love most of banila co packaging and this primer duo is no exception. It is very compact (7cm x 5cm x 1cm) and comes with a convenient mirror, however the shiny metallic case is a magnet for fingerprints (grr!).


It's split into 2 compartments with 4.7g and 4g of white & pink respectively. The white part is the actual primer whereas the pink is used to brighten the eye area as well as highlight - it reminds me of Benefit Eye Bright, which I also happen to have and will compare with.


The primer itself is totally clear so I won't post a swatch; it's a little hard in the pan at first but once warmed up (I rubbed it a few times) it spreads like a dream, and provided a velvety smooth base to make eyeshadow application considerably easier. This primer intensifies eyeshadows, makes colours go on more evenly and easier to blend - I use it straight after my eye cream and I find it mattifies my eyelids somewhat. I haven't experienced any creasing or colour fading throughout the day either. Great stuff!

Eye Love Eye Primer (pink) vs Eye Bright
The pink part of the Eye Primer looks almost identical to Benefit Eye Bright; both make a versatile eye brightener/highlighter but the Benefit pencil is a lot more difficult to spread and has chalky/dry texture whereas banila co's is creamy and requires very little effort to spread.

When I draw a line or dab with Eye Bright, unless I rub vigorously I can always see a faint trace of it. With Eye Primer I just need to gently pat on the pink brightener until it blends in perfectly to make me look more awake. Obviously I prefer banila co because I don't need to tug at the skin around my eyes as much.

They both look almost identical when on but I think the quality of Eye Primer is superior. It was difficult to swatch them since they don't really show up.

Benefit left, banila co right

Eye Primer duo retails at 15,000KRW ($12/£7) for a total of 8.7g.
Eye Bright retails for $20 in the US, £13.50 in the UK and you only get 1.7g. The pencil needs to be sharpened too, which causes product wastage, plus you need to carry a separate mirror unlike Eye Primer where there's already one built in.

I don't see any reason to use my Benefit pencil from now when the banila co stuff is miles better in every single way.

Etude House Glow Base Sun Guard SPF36 PA++

I hate the summer. While most people sit under the sun basking in its rays I prefer to seek shade and cover myself with a high SPF - I'm always on the lookout for decent, non sticky sun protection so when I came across this Glow Base Sun Guard on Gmarket from one of my favourite sellers, I had to have one!

Etude House makes several other Sun Guard products; these include Aqua Drop, Aqua Proof, White Aqua and Super Aqua with different levels of SPF. I chose this because it was the only one in a pink tube and the SPF 36 will be enough for most days.


Etude House says:

Supplies attractive pearl glitter expression for moist and sparkling skin expression. Specially formulated to soothe, nourish and lighten skin while suppling sun protection.

I say:
This baby pink lotion brightens and provides a pretty dewy glow to my skin, is very easy to spread, doesn't give a sticky or heavy feeling and has a lovely refreshing scent. Does make me resemble a mirror when first applied but the extra shine disappears very quickly (I have combination skin so probably shouldn't have used so much on my t-zone, lol) and I'm left looking fresh.


I like to use this under BB creams too, and it gives a boost to my complexion making it look super healthy. I only use it on my face and neck since I have a bigger bottle of SPF for body areas.

The PA++ part is a rough measure of how effective it is at protecting against UVA rays (cause the most amount of skin damage). There are 3 grades - PA+, PA++ and PA+++.

For the past few days I've been using only this on top of my moisturizer, with a bit of finishing powder on my t-zone to get rid of any excess shine. It hasn't caused any breakouts so far and doesn't leave a white cast. I have now ordered some other versions of Sun Guard from Gmarket, as well as 2 more tubes of this stuff for backup

The Korean retail price of Glow Base is 7,500KRW (currently around $6) for 50ml.

Beauty Staple - Naturally Victoria's Secret Acai Berry & Magnolia Fragrant Moisture Mist

When the postie woke me up this morning I just knew I was expecting a parcel from Victoria's Secret; I had a few things on backorder and it was about time one arrived!

Today's surprise was a moisture mist by Naturally Victoria's Secret.

The Naturally VS is a fairly new range released earlier this year. All products are free of parabens, mineral oil, petrolatum and crammed full of nature's good for you ingredients.

Scents available are:
Acai Berry & Magnolia to protect and brighten
Blackberry & Tonka Bean to revitalize and renew
Grapefruit, Lime & Mint to purify and invigorate
Honeysuckle & White Patchouli to relax and soothe
Vanilla & Sandalwood to nourish and comfort

This Acai Berry & Magnolia Fragrant Moisture Mist comes in a 300ml bottle and retails for $18, but there are often 3 for 2 offers on the VS website. I also purchased Illuminating Body Scrub (review to follow later) and Illuminating Body Wash (not yet arrived) from the same scent range as part of the offer.
The main ingredients are: acai berry to protect the skin, magnolia for its brightening properties, vitamins C & E and best of all it is alcohol free so does not dry out my skin when sprayed on directly.

I really love the smell; I had no idea what acai berries and/or magnolia smelt like before but I guess this is it! It's a sweet, calming scent that's not overpowering at all and can be used everyday. This is especially great for when I've been outside on a hot day such as today, as it cools, soothes and softens my skin with a few sprays.

It didn't leave a sticky/greasy residue or irritated my skin, and was absorbed super fast while providing a light veil of moisture - perfect for when I don't want to slap on body lotion.

Although I haven't noticed any differences as far as brightening goes, this is something I'll certainly be using time and time again - I love it so much I've added it to my beauty staples pile ^^

I'm also keen to try out the Grapefruit, Lime & Mint mist too!

Here are the ingredients

banila co Tint Balm 01 Clear Magic review & swatch

I was a little surprised when I received this from Gmarket, because it looked different from what I thought I'd ordered. Upon a closer inspection I realized that in my frenzied excitement in adding stuff to basket, I'd misread the options in the drop down menu on its item page

No big deal, I'll just save the Lip Color Balm, the one I wanted, for next time.

The Tint Balm resides a heavy frosted plastic pot which feels a bit like glass. When I unscrewed its lid I did a double take as the balm is so transparent that I thought it wasn't there - then again the shade is Clear Magic...

Balm? Where?

The second thing I did was stick my nose into the pot to have a good sniff - irritating or awful scents get big thumbs down from me! I can't tell what it smells like but it's not strong at all, great!

In the pot, the balm feels like sticky hardened jelly; it took some effort removing some product and it came out somewhat uneven in small clear blobs, but these did spread quite easily once warmed up.


Now the actual colour is interesting - it's one of those colour change lip balms which I think is supposed to give a different colour depending on your body chemistry.

It started off clear on my lips, then turned them a "just bitten" red and once the stickiness wore off it left a fresh & pretty pinkish red stain that actually looks quite nice. Unfortunately it is very sticky; I would say it's on par with Lancome Juicy Tubes if not a bit stickier, and while it doesn't dry out my lips, there's no moisturization either. I thought maybe I'd used too much, but even when a tiny amount was gently patted on to lips, it still made mine sticky.


I scooped some out using a cotton pad and it turned a fuchsia pink which is strange, but it is reacting with something at least. On the finger I used to take some product out, it left a reddish stain and my arm was a subtle flushed pink after I removed the swatch.

I'm sort of on the fence about this; I do like the packaging as with everything banila co and the balm itself is unusual, but it's just far too uncomfortably sticky (windy day = BAD) for my taste unless I apply a smooth balm on top. The stain does have amazing staying power though, it lasts hours even after lunch and several glasses of water.

It retails at 6,000KRW (just under $5/£3 current exchange rate) for 5g.

banila co Good Night Kiss Lip Care Essence

I got this as part of my banila co purchase from Gmarket. There was also a Kiss Essence (for use during the day) with SPF 10 available, but I passed on it as I'm not a fan of lip products with SPF - I've yet to find one that doesn't taste funny!

Anyway this Good Night Kiss Lip Care Essence comes in a glossy black squeezy tube housing 15ml of product with a convenient slanted tip. Its main ingredient is petrolatum (petroleum/mineral oil derived cream) which is also contained in Vaseline, Kiehl's and many other lip products.

There's a faint fruity scent but it's not obtrusive, and it feels nice & moisturizing, but not sticky, on my lips.

I now use this before I go to bed and it stays on during the night so I wake up to soft, smooth lips; it has also replaced my old favourite Majolica Majorca Majex Lip Cream because I have no idea where it is right now >_<