Hey dudes and dudettes,

How's summer treating you? Or winter if you're in Australia! ʕ·ᴥ·ʔ

I'm not a big fan of humidity and hot weather. I'd take cold winter over hot summer any day.
But hey - when we don't like something, we do something about it! Staying cool, with the fan next to me and taking showers daily is keeping me sane. Probably not the best solution for my body, but it's been helping. Don't forget the scrub once a week in the summer and use moisturising soaps, as showering every day may be too harsh for your skin and leave it dry, but at the same time you don't want to give the chance for those dead skin cells and sweat to pile up.


On topic! I got myself a nice haul off WISHTREND recently, after watching Eunice Unni's videos:

This one's a bit long, but well worth it. If you don't have the time to watch all of it, look at the icon on the bottom left and just check the products you're interested in.

This one's shorter and more summer-orientated. 

The product I wanted to try the most was the Nightingale Toning Eraser (Original), as I've been looking for a good peel for a long time, something strong to use once a week and to give my skin that extra kick.

Needless to say, I'm extremely happy with it! I've only used it once, but my God - did it make a difference instantly! I applied 3 layers one after another and waited 5min before applying a serum. My face went really red and it was slightly tingly as I went for the Normal/Original formula, not mild or gentle. I went full out hehe~ o(*`・ω・´*)ﾉ

My skin became really shiny and smooth after I used it and on the next morning it was like BABY BOTTOMS. I had quite a few pimples and a massive zit on my cheek, which were almost gone overnight! I was so happy about that. My skin went from having a bad week to having a great day. I even made a super happy reddit post about it. 

Here's the ingredients:

Overall mark: 10/10 will definitely be buying more!

The next product I got is from the second video - the Klairs Freshly Juiced Vitamin Drop Serum. 

I like Klairs in general, but don't super LOVE it. I know it's good, but I've never been amazed or super impressed with any of their products. They're gentle and don't break me out and don't do thins worse, but don't make a huge difference either, if that makes sense. It's kind of the same with this serum. I like it - I like the feeling it leaves and it definitely helps with acne, which is all I ask a serum to do. At first I thought it's a little bit like the OST Vitamin C serum so I put almost a whole pipette on my palm and spread it over my face, then I realised it's actually really oily! I didn't expect that, so I ended up putting too much on my face. 3-4 drops are more than enough.

Ingredients:

 

Overall mark: 8/10

Next is 23 years old Badesil Cream. One of my most favourite products of all time!!! I'm actually considering putting it in my HG - I want to see the long term effects first. 

It is recommended to use it as night cream and put on a few layers, which I've been doing, but I loved it so much I decided to use it during the day as well, since there's barely any sun in the UK, as you may know. First impression of it: it absorbs fast. I mean super fast. By the time I was done applying it my face was as if I don't have any cream on at all. So I put a few more layers of it on trouble spots, as recommended by Eunice on the first video. The next day my skin looked so much better - healthy glow, pimples calmed down and faded away and really soft to the touch. Even my boyfriend noticed a difference and he never really does. The only downside is that I don't find it super hydrating. If my skin needs extra moisture, I would put another moisturiser after this cream. I would imagine I'd never use it alone in the winter. For now I am finishing it with the Innisfree Real Olive Oil to keep the moisture in. 

Ingredients:

Overall Mark: 10/10 

Last product I bought was the Berrisom My Tripple Tint Balm. I also own the Berrisom Tattoo Lip and found it to be quite a quirky little item. It's great for going out, when I know I'll drink or eat, as it won't go off.

I got the Tripple Tint Balm in orange, you can see the colours on the side of the packaging in the triangles. What it's meant to do is do natural gradient on your lips. Here's how I apply it. As you can see, it's not very saturated, which was definitely a bit of a let down, but overall it's a great tint, very moisturising and the gradient is quite subtle. Great when you're going for more natural looks. It doesn't last trough food and drinks though. 

Overall mark: 6/10

I was playing around with mini studio backgrounds, so here's a bonus photo of my current top daily items:

Top left in the large tube is the Su:m37 Miracle Rose Cleansing Stick, which is probably the most hyped item on the internet. Everyone loves it. I like it too but don't find it quite as fascinating as everyone seems to believe it is. It's a good cleanser, it's a fancy packaging, but essentially I see it as a good facial soap in a very easy to use stick packaging. You can get equally good items, if not better for a lot less money, except they won't be in a fancy packaging. 

Bottom left is my most beloved Innisfree Olive Real Essential Rich Oil, which is an oil you leave on your skin. Not a cleansing oil, but a leave-in oil. I use 2-3 drops of it at the end of my rotation both AM and PM to keep all the products and moisture in. It's an absolute must-have for dehydrated skin! 

Next to it in the middle is the 23 years old Badesil Cream, which you already know about from above, next to it the Klairs Vitamin drop and behind poking from the flowers is the Toning Erased.

In the middle you can see the DEARBERRY Raspberry Lip Balm, which is my favourite lip balm ever! It's super moisturising, helps fix my chapped lips in minutes and I also use it as a little exfoliator: I put on a sufficient amount, leave it in for 2min, then take a cotton bud and use it to wipe it off my lips. You'll see all your dead skin from your lips on the cotton bud, it's amazing! Ater you're done put another small layer of the lip balm on and BAM, perfect lips. 

I hope this was helpful to you guys, I wasn't trying to be overly positive, but I think I ended up being super lucky with my purchase. I'm starting to think I know my skin so well, it's helping me shop all the right products for it. 

Have you bought things from WISHTREND before? At first I was only looking at their youtube videos, but now I'm a little bit addicted, as they have an interesting variety of products you can't find anywhere else online and they all come with very detailed instructions on how to use them. Also, loce Eunice! 

Let me know what you think and what your summer resolutions are in the comments below!

MEMEBox! Introset #6 Seoul Style Review

Hey dudes and dudettes!

I have yet another MEME Box review! Waiting on only 1 more MEME Box now and will probably never get the chance to review them again, since they seized shipping worldwide. You can Only get them in Asia (limited to Japan and Korea, I think) and USA now. Such a shame, I was a big fan. Mostly for the amount of money you save with boxes.


I think this introset is by far my favourite box though! I'm suuuper happy with it, both with the products and the amount of money saved. Hence I've decided to this time include the products RRP as well, to show the exact amount of money saved! I've been using all of the products for a week, so I'll have a lot more insight to share than last week, where I was a bit impatient and reviewed after a couple of days 




ReinPlatz Sheet masks! Soybean, Blueberry and Black Rice. RRP: Approx $2 each
I am wearing the Soyean one right now actually:


immediately after the mask (please be gentle, this is the first pic I've ever posted of me without makeup and filters... feels weird  ):


The only thing I have to say about this product is - you can never have enough sheet masks. Also, I generally prefer the 100% cotton masks now. Slightly off-topic but I've been trying out the Klairs 100% cotton soothing masks from WISH Trend and they are just divine. I know it's not for everyone though - I was discussing this with the ladies of /r/asianbeauty and it was really mixed - some people found that cotton masks fall off a lot and don't fit their face right and others were like me - the cotton mask fits me perfectly and doesn't fall off at all, it's the perfect match. So it really depends on your skin type and face shape, but I personally love them. 

Here's the ingredients:







Secret Key Baby Pig Collagen Jelly Pack. RRP: Approx. $13.99
This is an odd one. I've never used a Collagen before, let alone a jelly pack. It's basically like one of those sticky jelly pots you get as a kid that feel super yucky and gross but kind of awesome at the same time:

It's very liquidy. More liquidy than the jelly pots for kids, so it's easy for it to fall everywhere and get messy. It also smells divine. It's kind of like cotton candy with bubblegum type of smell and I love it. It says on the instructions that you shouldn't wash it off, so I use it as a night pack at the moment. I keep it last in my PM routine and put a little, but it really goes a long way. It looks super shiny and makes your face look wet, but on the touch it's not wet at all.

It absorbs way quicker than I thought it would, especially it you pat it, but your face will still look pretty wet after using it. In the morning I wake up with super soft, shiny, baby skin which means it lives up to its name! I'm really happy with it~

Ingredients:





IASO Intensive Clear Booster. RRP: $75

This thing costs $75. This is also the product that made me question the price of this box in the first place. I noticed the effect even after the first time of using and I was seriously impressed - my skin has never looked this good after one use of a product. It's either some miracle product or it works really well with my skin. So I wondered how much it costs, because I can see myself re-ordering it in the future and when I saw the price I was like... WHHAAATTT?!?!
The smell isn't the most pleasant thing in the world, but it's not too strong, so I'll live with it. I has a peeling effect which is meant to 're-texturize' your skin and help you with whatever your battling - be it oily or dry skin, hence it says 'all skin types' with active ingredient Salicylic Acid. I have to say it really lives up to the promise and I would also highly recommend it for anyone with acne. I haven't had a single pimple since I've started using it, which is unusual for my skin. Loving it! I use it after my toner and before my serum.


Ingredients:




Ferfree Ultra Facial Oil-free Gel Cream. RRP: I can't actually find it.

It looks like a dupe of the Kiehl's one. Down to the design of the bottle. So I'm assuming it's the same formula and everything. The Kiehl's one is about $50. I'm really happy with this one so far, as it's perfect for my skin type - it's not too heavy and it leaves the skin in perfect condition - not too creamy/moist and not too dry. I also like anything that comes in gel form. 



Ingredients (in Korean, sadly):




And the last product is CLIO Lipnicure Glass in #4 Born to kill. RRP: $22

This colour... is VERY bright! I'm still trying to master the ombre lips look, because you literally need one drop from this to do it. It's SO STRONG! 

It also stays on for super long time. I put it at 8am for work and at 6pm after eating 3 times I still had it on, mostly at the edges of my lips, which is a bit frustrating but it was still there. It's really hard to get rid of - even my Innisfree Apple Juicy Oil Cleanser had troubles. Here's a photo of it right after application and after eating:


As you can see it's super bright and it's barely any less after eating. However, the fork didn't feel that way:


Ingredients (Korean only):



Now, let's do the maths, considering I'm missing the price for one product, I will safely assume it's 2x cheaper than the product it's a dupe of so we'll have:
$2 x3 + 13,99 + 75 + 25 + 22 = $141.99

And I bought this MEME Box for $40 with shipping, which means I saved $101.99
WOW!!!

This is why I love boxes.

Let me know what are YOUR favourite boxes in the comments below - I'll be looking for new bargains, as MEME Box is not available for me now!

Winter Skincare Routine

Hello dudes and dudettes,

I'm back, after a loooong winter holiday to talk about harsh weather and how to deal with it. Also about a few new products that I've found and absolutely love! 

I went back to my parents, in Bulgaria, for a week. It was -10 C over there and I almost froze to death. The last time I left the UK in the winter was almost 7 years ago, so I've grown quite used to the 'winter' here, which is pretty warm compared to most other European countries. The wind is the only issue, so extra moisture is still required. Cold wind is my skin's worst enemy.


Here is what I'm using as an AM routine right now:


From left to right: Hada Labo Gokujyun Lotion (Toner, kind of), The YEON Jeju Hallabong Serum (as seen in my MEME Box), Hada Labo Gokujyun Milk, Benton Snail Bee High Content Steam Cream, Oriflame True perfection Day Cream and Oriflame True Perfection undereye roller cream.

The only non-asian products are Oriflame, which is a Swedish brand. My mom works for them so she keeps sending me freebies - I can't complain. It's a rather nice brand with unique way of distributing (they're not sold in any shops, you need to know an oriflame consultant or become one yourself) and mostly organic ingredients without anything harsh. I hear they're quite popular in eastern Europe. Downside of the brand, for me personally, is that they don't have any light shade foundations/bbcreams. They run a bit too dark for my skintone. Which I find odd, considering they're a Swedish brand, where people are mostly pale and blond. (/stereotype)

As you can see I have 3 products for moisturising in this routine - starting with the milk, then the Snail Bee cream and then the True Perfection cream. Before the winter kicked in, I was only using the milk, without any other moisturiser after. Just for comparison. For my PM routine I usually use a different serum, be it the C20 one or AHA Peeling Serum, depending if I have any breakouts or not and finish it with the Mizon Returning Starfish cream, instead of the Oriflame one. Occasionally use a sleeping pack too, but only if my skin feels extra dry. I think the Starfish Cream does its job quite well, so it's rarely necessary.

I love all of these products a lot and I would recommend them to anyone. What I was most impressed by though was the Snail Bee cream. I didn't expect much of it, as I've used other Benton creams and they've been good, but not amazing or anything. This cream leaves my skin like baby bottoms. The first time I tried it, I loved the finish so much I just went outside without any makeup after it. Which is extremely rare for me. It has a matte finish, so it looks really natural and it leaves your skin feeling soft and healthy. I just love how you can instantly see a difference.


That being said about my winter routine, I'd like to move on to my new favourite things (not just products):



You may have heard of this, it's the Berrison Lip Tint 'Tattoo' as people call it. You put it on, wait 10min, then peel it off and the lip tint can stay on your lips up to 24 hours. I tested it and it was on my lips all day, even after eating and drinking, the colour was still bright and lovely and it didn't fade out in spots, even though my lips were really chapped that day and I didn't exfoliate them beforehand (impatience). 

Here's a video I found of how it works and the different swatches, I chose Pure Pink:


Here is how the Pure Pink looked on me, sorry for crappy front cam quality, will definitely make a better one soon:


One thing I would note about this product is the obvious risks - it is rather drying. I wouldn't use it without a lip balm after. I still reuse my normal lip balm all day, on top of this lip tint.

Another favourite product this month is Michelle Phan's EM Contour and Highlighter Stick:


I just LOVE smart and practical items like this. When you have multiple things in one item, not just because it's smart, but because it saves so much time that I honestly can't spare on makeup every day. I wish I could, but I have a job, a hobby and I hate mornings. This is a stick, not a powder, from liquid that is both a highlighter and a 'bronzer', kind of. Used for contouring super fast.


Just apply the contour as desired and then blend it using a blender sponge or your fingers. I also found a cute little guide on how to contour depending on your face shape:


I myself also use it under my cheekbones, to give them that little edge. If I could make my face somehow look like Olivia Wilde's I could die happy.

Here is how I contour my face:

(I also dyed my hair more red than it was before, tell me what you think about it! I'm still getting used to it...)

I believe I have an oblong shaped face, at least that's what the lipstick on the mirror test result was (where you draw your face with a lipstick on the mirror lol).

I'd also highlight the eyebrow arch if I'm showing my eyes, but the bangs cover that for me.

Another favourite winter item is this:


Me and my boyfriend got matching ones- pretty cute, right? :3
These are life-saviours at home during the cold season. I personally always have cold limbs. No matter how warm it is - my hands and feet are always freezing, hence I'm one of the first people to put on mittens and warm boots when it gets colder. These little 'home uggs' (due to a lack of better term) are the best. And cute.


And last, but not least, don't forget to stay warm, happy and hydrated during the winter! Sheet masks and cats are essential:



(I will regret posting this photo later... it just felt too good at the time)





P.S.: I am also a huge fan of Reddit and the lovely people of /r/asianbeauty !