MAKEUP

Review: Maybelline White Superfresh Long Lasting UV Cake Powder SPF34 PA+++, Just Because It Didn’t Work Well On Me, Doesn’t Mean It’s A Bad Powder

July 3, 2014 Leave a Comment

This new foundation powder is already on the shelf as they have been launched just recently. It has been quite some time since their last powder and this definitely brings much more refreshing image. Introducing the new powder of Maybelline White Superfresh Long Lasting UV Cake Powder SPF34 PA+++.

‘Gorgeous skin is rocking the catwalks this season. You can now show off a more than flawless complexion with Maybelline New York’s latest cake powder breakthrough.

Thanks to its unique Clean Touch Powder System, White Superfresh Cake Powder SPF34 PA+++ leaves behind an ultra-smooth surface on your skin. The innovative system goes beyond sebum absorption; it helps to speed up sweat drying and evaporation so skin remains clean. On top of that, the Clean Touch Powder System’s Mineral Perlite content contains 5X the absorbing powder of talc, making it more effective towards sweat and sebum. With one application, White Superfresh Cake Powder SPF34 PA+++ absorbs and entraps sweat and sebum, as well as speeds up sweat evaporation to prevent build-up. This faster drying action results in a clean touch and fresh makeup all day. You no longer need touch-ups!

This unique formula makes White Superfresh Long Lasting UV Cake Powder SPF34 PA+++ perfect for all-day use, especially if you are always on the go but still want your makeup to look fresh from morning till night without having to touch up constantly. Providing up to 12 hours of long-lasting freshness and 12 hours of UV protection, White Superfresh Long Lasting UV Cake Powder SPF34 PA+++ ensures that freshness stays true while your complexion appears white, even throughout your busy schedule. Pores don’t get clogged up either with its lightweight formula.’

I like how this new compact design as it looks very simple, white and clean. It comes in rectangular shape with rounded corners.

Upon opening the compact, there’s a full sized mirror, foundation cake and sponge. Normally, I would us my brush to apply but I will still keep the sponge in case I need it.

A closer look on the compact where the powders looked fine and matte. The shade I have chosen is Honey, the second darkest shade that they have.

Honey has quite a bit of yellow undertone and from the swatch, the powder doesn’t seem to be as fine as I expected. This shade does look slightly darker for my skin but it goes well if I use brighter liquid foundation.

From the ingredients listing, I could se that there isn’t any alcohol and paraben which will be very kind to the skin.

Here is a before and after, pardon the huge breakout on my forehead. I tried to apply sparingly, otherwise it could look very yellow on me. I could tell that it provides light to medium coverage as it did not fully covered the breakout, bare in mind that I did not apply liquid foundation here. It brightens instantly with matte finish.

Above all…

I love this powder because it feels light on my skin and gives a decent matte coverage. It also instantly makes my skin looks brighter on camera but in real, I couldn’t see that it is. My skin started to get oily after 5 hours on my nose and t-zone area, that’s where it started to wear off. I have been using it for more than a week now and I hope this could stay better on my skin. This isn’t a bad foundation, just because it didn’t work well on me. If you do not have crazy oily skin like I do, I do recommend this powder for you to try.

Price: MYR23.90, MYR11.90 (refill)

Weight: 9grams

Availability: All nationwide leading pharmacies

PROs:

Very affordable
Matte finish
Instantly brightens skin
Light to medium coverage

CONs:

Didn’t last long

My Rating:4/5

~ ♦ ~

This powder is provided by Maybelline for review purposes, kindly refer disclaimer.

xoxo,
Traclyn Yeoh

Review: Indeed Nanoblur Instant Skin Finisher Blurs Out Imperfection Instantly Yet It Gives Patchy Finish For Liquid Foundation

July 2, 2014 Leave a Comment

This ain’t no primer but helps to smooth out imperfections that makeup cannot and get you ready in seconds for HD camera ready skin. It does sound very powerful yes? It’s Indeed Nanoblur Instant Skin Finisher which also promises to look 10 years younger in 40 seconds.

Nanoblur – The award winning* hero product from Indeed Labs, continues to dominate the international cosmetic scene as the essential instant skin finisher. It transforms your skin, immediately minimising the signs of aging. Within seconds Nanoblur smooths and soften the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, crow’s feet, enlarged pores, uneven texture and tone, while providing a shine free appearance.

Nanoblur is the instant skin finisher for HD camera ready skin in seconds. With almost everyone using high megapixel camera phones, it’s not just celebrities who worry about being picture perfect. With nanoblur all that remains is pixel perfect skin.

It comes in a petite squeeze tube and it is the same size of Hydraluron. The designation is simple, with marker where the product dispenses and the color code is orange, grey and white.

At the back of the box is where there is short description of the product and the directions to use. This skin finisher usage is very different where you will have to use it after if you use liquid foundation and before if you use powder. If you have drier skin, you always mix nanoblur with your moisturizer. My concern is if it will affect the finishing of the liquid foundation.

I have noticed this tab with Hydraluron and this have it too. I believe it may be applied to all of their products but I have yet to see their range on the shelf myself.

Inside the tab, there is more description in different languages. It is an ease for different mother tongues.

This skin finisher is free of color, alcohol and Paraben.

‘Formulated with advanced optical prism technology Nanoblur’s ground-breaking formula changes the way light reflects off skim. Once applied micro-prisms diffuse light in a multitude of directions, creating a smoothing effect on skin similar to an air-brushed photo. Photo artist use techniques in digital retouching to make subject’ skin look perfect. Nanoblur does the same thing, but in real life.’

The tube comes with a seal which gives more security whereby it is hygienic and was not used before by anyone.

This is is water-based formula cream where I do find that the texture is light, easy to blend and instantly mattifies. I first tested over my wrinkly fingers and once it is fully blended, it blurs out the lines making it less visible.

I was very concern having to apply it after liquid foundation. I didn’t have a very good experience when I did so on my face. Therefore, I would like to just share how it affected the liquid foundation on my hand. It diffuses the coverage of the foundation and makes it look patchy as though the foundation wasn’t blended nicely. Once it gets patchy, it gets very stubborn to blend it over and there was a lot of tugging happening.

I prefer to use it with powder where I need to apply Nanoblur before it. It does give that instant effect of mattifying, blurring lines, pores are less visible, brighten, reduce redness. However, it does leave my skin feeling as though it contains alcohol. You know how your skin felt cool right after an alcohol swab? That was the feeling I felt while blending in Nanoblur. Do you think that it helps to make me look 10 years younger? I’ll leave it to you to judge.

Above all…

Though I would prefer to use it with powder, after 3-4 hours my skin started to oil up and felt as though the skin finisher is ‘floating’ in between my skin and powder. When I blot my skin, it felt tacky and waxy which doesn’t make me feel comfortable and I do find that my powder wasn’t able to stay on well. I tried and tested to work this skin finisher with my liquid foundation and I never like it at all. Maybe this could be a better option for those who wears less makeup or prefers powder foundation.

Price: MYR75.00

Weight: 30ml

Availability: Muse By Watsons

PROs:

Easy to blend, solely on the skin finisher
Instantly blurs out imperfection
Free from colorant, alcohol and Paraben

CONs:

Patchy finish with liquid foundation
Feels like as though it contains alcohol
Doesn’t last well on combination-oily skin
Temporary results

My Rating: 3.8/5

~ ♦ ~

This skin finisher was provided by Muse by Watsons for review purposes, kindly refer disclaimer.

xoxo,
Traclyn Yeoh

Review: Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Gel Foundation, Finishes Differently Depending On How You Use It

June 26, 2014 Leave a Comment

Bourjois finally came into Malaysia not long ago and I believe that many might not know how to pronounce the brand. Bourjois is originated from Paris and pronounced as ‘bu-jouar’. They are very well known for their foundation as well as their blusher.

Currently, they only have a kiosk in Sunway Pyramid and I made a quick stop when I was stationed to work there early this month. I picked up two items and one of it is the Healthy Mix Serum Gel Foundation. I picked this instead of the Healthy Mix Foundation because this is infused with serum that would benefit the skin.

“Give your skin a radiance boost with Bourjois’ Healthy Mix Serum Gel foundation – made from a vitamin-rich fruit therapy formula for an even complexion and an instant anti-fatigue result!
Its fresh and instant blending gel texture blends and glides onto the skin for an even, natural finish with no mask effect. Imperfections are erased, signs of fatigue are smoothed and the skin’s radiance is boosted for up to 16 hours*.
Made from an instant anti-fatigue vitamin-rich fruit therapy formula with litchi, goji berries and pomegranates.
Tested for you:

69% more radiance after 4 weeks of use!**

And…it’s good for my skin!

· Hypoallergenic, lets skin breathe

· Dermatologically tested

Tested for you** :

• Complexion is perfectly even => 97% agreed

• Skin looks rested => 94% agreed

• The complexion is radiant => 89% agreed

• The product feels light feel on the skin => 91% agreed

*Scientifically tested on 10 panellists.

**Tested on 100 consumers for 4 weeks”

The gel foundation comes in a plastic pump bottle and up until today, I do not experience any difficulty from using it and on the bottle itself, there is brief description of the foundation.

The shade that I picked is Vanilla, slightly brighter than my skin shade. When I select my shade, I did tell their BA that I need to do this quick. She did picked the shade for me and ask to apply on my hand to identify the right shade. In my opinion, testing the shade is more accurate on the jawline than hand and at the end, I tested it on my jawline myself.

I do find the texture is more to the liquid-cream instead of gel, it does feel heavy and gives quite a bit of coverage too. It is very easy to blend and gives a slight dewy finish.

Despite of the vitamins infused in the gel foundation, it does contain alcohol but the foundation doesn’t smell like it has alcohol nor me facing any irritation from it. I’m very happy to find that there isn’t any Paraben from the ingredients listing.

Please do ignore my tired face since I have a lot to catch up on my new job. This foundation provides light to medium coverage and you’ll be able to see the difference especially on my under eye, acne scars and redness. It gives a dewy finish, almost felt like BB cream but without the ultimate gray cast. It does look slightly lighter than my skin tone but once I apply powder over it, it gets adjusted.

Above all…

I love this foundation when I get lazy over my skincare routine or in a hurry and had to skip my skin care because it is serum infused foundation. It is a makeup with skin care properties, therefore it compensates what I have missed from my skincare. It finishes off semi-matte if I skip my full skincare regime and this method makes the foundation stays longer.

On the other side, if I go with full fledged on my skin care regime, this foundation can be heavy on me and finishes dewy as you can see on the before and after photo above. With that, the foundation does wears off faster and I get oily easily within the first 2 hours even though I did apply powder.

Therefore, I would say this would go suitable for those who have normal to selective combination skin. If you are wondering why I would say selective combination skin, it is because some combination skin could be on the oilier side and vice versa. I still have some skin care that I will need to review, otherwise I could have just use this foundation daily and skip my skincare regime .

Price : MYR57.90

Weight: 30ml / 1 fl.oz

Availability: Sunway Pyramid (LG1, Lot 1.65A)

PROs:

Serum infused foundation
Hygienie pump bottle, ease of dispensing
Medium coverage, easy to blend
Paraben free

CONs:

Contains alcohol
Doesn’t last for 16 hours, wears of on different ways of usage
Currently only available at one kiosk

My Rating: 3.8/5

xoxo,
Traclyn Yeoh

Review: Canmake Marshmallow Finish Powder SPF26 PA++ in Matte Beige Ochre, Finishes Smooth and Matte Yet To Keep My Skin Oiliness At Bay

June 9, 2014 Leave a Comment

It definitely felt incomplete if I don’t use any foundation powder after my BB cream or liquid foundation especially when I could get oily easily on my t-zone area. Nevertheless, face powder is very important to me. I look through my drawers and discovered Canmake Marshmallow Finish Powder SPF26 PA++ in Matte Beige Ochre. I have almost forgotten about this foundation and left it unopened for a year since that I have received it. Finally, I have decided to use it for more than a month ago and to my surprise that it has hit the pan.

Create a sweet-looking face that’s as soft and light ♡ as a marshmallow

A delicate powder that combines the smoothness of silk and the softness of a marshmallow ♡

Additive-free mineral formulation that’s kind to your skin and can be removed with ordinary facial wash

Kind to your skin – contains 72% mineral ingredients.
No need to use special cleansers when removing your make-up – ordinary facial wash is fine!
Free from surfactants, tar-based pigments, alcohol and fragrance.

Formulation that prevents make-up wearing off due to shininess, dullness or dryness

Contains shine-preventing powder. This absorbs sebum, preventing shininess, stickiness and make-up fade.

Contains 10 beautifying agents to prevent skin becoming dry and rough

Moisturizing agents

Aloe vera leaf extract, rosemary extract, chamomile extract, lemon extract

Toning agents

Horse chestnut extract, perilla (shiso) leaf extract

Emollient agents

Squalane, olive oil, jojoba oil, grape seed oil

Contains concealing powder that makes pores and unevenness in skin texture much less noticeable

The two different-sized types of spherical powder particles create a light-scattering effect, making it hard to notice areas of concern, such as pores and unevenness of skin texture.

Canmake’s makeup packaging are usually very simple back then and they are now coming forward with fresher look. I’d must say that the designation of this compact is rather classy and feminine which adds so much value to it than the ordinary flat compacts. On the box and the back is where the shade is labelled and there are only two shades available which is MO (Matte Ochre) and MB (Matte Beige Ochre). The one I’m having is MB.

Just like your typical foundation compact, when this is open you’ll get a full size mirror and sponge applicator. I would prefer to use brushes to apply powder over my face, therefore I hardly use most face sponge. The clasp of the compact holds tight to close and I have yet to experience any accidental opened compacts.

A closer look to the compact foundation, it is powdery smooth. From the look of it, the powder texture looks finely made.

Here is the swatch, lightly for the top photo and blended over the skin on the bottom photo. It definitely looks like some decent fine powder but I do think that this has a light pink undertone to it which I doubted if it is going to suit for my skin.

I have been using BB cream most of the time now and that would explain my ghastly look. My face has always been fairer than the rest of my body. To complete the face makeup, I do apply Canmake Marshmallow Finish Powder SPF26 PA++ in Matte Beige Ochre. It does provide medium coverage and evens out my skin tone. To be honest, this shade is a tad bit too fair for me and from the photo, it seems that it matches my skin but in real, it does look slightly pinkish and almost a shade too fair for me.

Above all…

I love the coverage and the finishing of it where it also conceals my enlarged pores to look smaller. It leaves skin feeling smooth and doesn’t feel heavy at all. However, this foundation could not conceal severe acne and you could witness one that there is one popping above the right side of my lips. It finishes off matte and it could help my skin to hold shine for about an hour or two. I always started to get oily starting from the nose.

This foundation powder does transfer easily as I blot it every few hours and by the end of the day, the foundation powder is almost gone. Approximately 15 – 20% left? Call me lazy because I hardly do touch ups and another reason for not doing it is product hygiene. I definitely do not want to transfer bacteria or dirt from my face into the product. As much as I have shared my opinions on this compact, unknowingly I have already hit the pan. I have been using this foundation almost everyday and I would think that this foundation is better off for those who have normal to combination skin.

Price: MYR 69.90

Availability: Sasa outlet throughout Malaysia

PROs: