Friday Review: Skin Food Acorn Jelly Mask

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I’ve eyed Skin Food products for months now, being totally taken in by their rustic, nostalgic and cute packaging. So when www.sasa.com was having a 15% sale on Skin Food masks, I decided to pick up a pot of Skin Food Acorn jelly Mask. As I have long suffered from white heads on my nose due to enlarged clogged pores, I felt this mask was the most suitable one for me, with its promises to reduce pore size and provide effective exfoliation of dead skin cells.

I’m totally in love with the adorable packaging! The look is of a little jar of homemade jam that you might find being sold on trestle tables at a small town farmers market. The acorn illustrations also add to the vintage feel.

The little spoon that comes with the mask is a great touch, meaning that you can hygienically spoon out the mask without using your fingers. The handle is complete with a bas-relief Skin Food cherub.

The mask itself doesn’t look too appetising, the colour and texture reminding me of baby food. The smell is also a bit strange. It’s decidedly nutty, and very sweet smelling.

The promise:

A mask pack that effectively tightens oil-clogged enlarged pores and exfoliates layers of dead skin cells with powdered acorns from Jiri-mountains

Jiri-mountain Acorn: Acorns, grown in Jiri-mountain which is famous for crystal clear water, contains a high amount of tannin that is effective in tightening enlarged pores

Apparently the main ingredient in Skin Food Acorn Jelly Mask is tannin derived from Jiri-mountain Acorns. Tannin is a naturally occurring astringent, meaning a substance that shrinks or constricts body tissue. A common example is tea, especially black tea (hence the reason tea bags are quite often used for eye masks to help reduce puffiness). You’ll notice that after sipping tea, you’ll get a weird dry sensation in your mouth. What is happening is that the tannin is binding the proteins in your mouth, causing them to precipitate. Tannins are also used treatments for inflammatory conditions such as burns, stings and rashes.

As for the actual ingredient list, the pack is in Korean, but I’ve located an English version on Cosdna.com =>http://www.cosdna.com/eng/cosmetic_250659693.html:

The fifth item down the list, “Quercus acutissima” is the scientific term for the Sawtooth Oak, an oak that is native to Korea, and most likely refers to the ‘Jiri-mountain’ oak tree that produces the acorns in Skin Food Acorn Jelly mask.

But there are also many other ingredients in this mask, including:

• moisturizers
• anti-inflammatory ingredients, and
• antioxidant and whitening ingredients

The moisturizing ingredients are self explanatory, and the anti-inflammatory ingredients would likely work together with the astringent, tannin, to help reduce pore size. Oleanolic acid is an antioxidant and also inhibits melanin production to promote lightening of skin.

Skin Food Acorn Jelly also promises to exfoliate dead skin cells. This may refer to the inclusion of Butylene Glycol, which is often an ingredient in facial cleansing products due to its ability to dissolve most essential oils.

The instructions say to leave Skin Food Acorn Jelly Mask on skin for 1 minute then rinse off with warm water. There is no recommendation of how often you should use it.

Keep in mind that with this mask a little goes a really long way! I keep scooping out way too much every time.

On the skin it feels cool and refreshing. After a few seconds starts to sting a little, especially around my sensitive nose area. I suppose this might be the feeling of the skin tightening.

So does it work?

I’ve used this mask every day for a week, and I have noticed tightening of the pores on my nose, which was my major concern, and there’s been a visible reduction in white heads on my nose! I have combined this mask with a deep cleansing step (using Zino Bubble Mask), the theory being that first I remove white heads, excess oil and dead skin, and then tighten pores so that they don’t come back.

An effect I didn’t expect was that my skin has actually become really smooth. In fact I’ve received many comments, quite randomly, about how good my skin looks. So I definitely think this mask is doing great things for my skin, and I’ll definitely keep on using it!

• Does appear to tighten pores
• Has made my skin appear and feel smoother over 1 week
• Feels cool and refreshing
• A little goes a long way
• Leave on time of 1 minutes means you could fit it easily into your everyday skin care routine
• The promise of this product ticks all the boxes for someone with oily blemish prone skin

• Not the best smelling mask out there, but not all together unpleasant
• Does sting a little so may not be the best mask for sensitive skin

I would definitely buy this mask again, and it’s totally made me excited to try out other Skin Food products!

Friday review: Dolly Wink No.14 Natural Cute Lower Lashes

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Like the massive fashion victim that I am, the moment I

heard about the new Dolly Wink “Otona Kawaii” (ladylike) range, I immediately searched the interwebs far and wide to acquire me a set. After ogling the different designs on the Dolly Wink website for about 40 minutes, I decided to try No. 10 Sweet cat and No.14 Natural Cute. These two are my personal favourites from the range at first impression. I reviewed Dolly Wink Sweet Cat a few weeks ago, and due to shifting around the blogging schedule, it’s only till now that I’ve been able to post my review of the lower lashes, Dolly Wink Natural Cute.

First of all let me just say that I am completely and utterly in love with Dolly Wink Natural Cute. Forget all the other Dolly Wink lower lashes, even from the original series. These are now my favourite lower lashes of all time. Why? Feel free to read on and find out!

For those who have just joined us, I should probably give you a little background on Dolly Wink false lashes. Dolly Wink is a false eyelash line under Japanese cosmetics brand, Koji. ‘Produced’ by Tsubasa Masuwaka, Japanese ‘gyaru’ model, her false eye lash range is aimed to be of superior quality, extremely natural looking, and specifically engineered for creating the gyaru makeup look, which is characterised by big, lashy and often ‘droopy’ eyes. This line of eyelashes has become highly coveted both inside and outside of Japan, so much so that www.sasa.com, which is one of the stockists who ships worldwide, is constantly out of stock of the popular styles such as Dolly Wink No.1 and No.2. The first Dolly Wink range offered 4 styles of upper lashes and 4 styles of lower lashes. The new Dolly Wink Otona Kawaii range offers the same, but the twist is that this time the styles are more subtle and mature or ladylike, but still distinctly ‘gyaru’.

I notice that a lot of people are not in love with the packaging of the new Dolly Wink Otona Kawaii range, saying that it’s plain and cheap looking compared to the original packaging, and that they don’t get why it’s a bottle. I don’t either! Actually when I first saw pictures of the Dolly Wink Otona Kawaii range online, I thought these had ‘fake’ written all over it.

Despite the less popular packaging, the quality of the the product definitely lives up to its reputation. While cheaper false lashes easily warp out of shape, Dolly Wink lashes always maintain their perma-curl to the very end. Even when you pinch the strands too hard with your tweezers and they develop a kink, they seem to just revert back to their original shape on their own. When anyone asks me if I think Dolly Wink is worth the extra price, I would suggest they look closely at the quality difference between Dolly Wink lashes and cheaper dupes. Also Dolly Wink false lashes are almost always guaranteed to last you longer than cheap lashes.

As always, Dolly Wink false lashes come in a set of two and a small tube of Dolly Wink eyelash glue. With cheaper lashes, the glue is always rubbish, but I totally swear by Dolly Wink eyelash glue!

The lash design

Dolly Wink Natural Cute is exactly as the name suggests. Thin and extremely natural looking clumps make up the inner half of these false lashes, while the ends have triangular clumps which, true to the gyaru style, aim to emphasize the outer corner of the eyes to help achieve the ‘tare me’ or droopy eye effect.

I can imagine some of you must be thinking, “the design looks so simple, surely you can find a cheaper dupe!” But if you look closely, you can see that attention to detail has been paid to place the lash clumps somewhat randomly and in alternating thicknesses so that they more convincingly resemble real lashes. In my opinion, it’s details like this that make many Dolly Wink designs not easily dupable.

 

Application

The spine is very flexible so it’s easy to curve Dolly Wink Natural Cute to your natural eye line. Once the glue dries, the transparent spine is more or less invisible, and it’s really not that obvious that I am wearing lower lashes. You could also use black coloured eyelash glue to deliberately make the spine look like perfectly drawn eyeliner!

I would also recommend applying these lashes as close to the inner corner of your eyes as possible to achieve consistency. I would not recommend trimming these as the length is perfect for elongating the other corner of the eye. However, if you already have naturally long lower lashes, you may choose to trim off the inner strands and only use the outer clumps.

• Extremely natural looking
• The design and length is perfect for elongating the eye and creating the tare me effect
• Flexible spine makes for easy application
• Super thin and transparent spine is almost invisible once the glue dries
• Durable and one pair should last many many applications

• May be too natural looking for those who want to create a more dramatic look
• Lash clumps may start to move along the spine if pulled excessively

Make sure to also check out my review on Dolly Wink Sweet Cat!

Dolly Wink Natural Cute are available on www.sasa.com for $13.50USD!

Friday Review: Garnier BB Cream

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It didn’t surprise me when last year Garnier advertised their BB Cream on television, as it was completely necessary to explain the BB Cream concept to the general Australian public, who had never had any exposure to this product. But I wondered if they really got it. When I talk to people around here about BB Cream, the first question they ask is what’s the difference between BB Cream and tinted moisturiser. Well, the way that it’s been marketed by Garnier, I think there really isn’t much difference. Nonetheless, I immediately went out and grabbed myself a tube of Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector in Medium, so I could see for myself how it compares to Asian BB Creams.

 

Nothing could be more confusing than Garnier BB Cream’s title: BB Cream Innovation? Miracle Skin Perfector? Daily All-In-One Moisturiser? Daily All-In-One B.B. Cream?

Anyway, true to the BB Cream tradition, it packs a bunch of skin benefits in one:

• Evens complexion
• Reduces sun spots & imperfections
• Boosts healthy glow
• Tinted 24H Hydration
• UV Protection SPF 15

Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector claims to be ‘inspired by BB creams’ and that it will achieve ‘an instantly flawless finish without the heaviness of foundation’. But notice that nothing about this product actually says that it would off any degree of actual coverage. So any of you who have been used to using Asian BB Creams may be a bit confused about what Garnier Miracle Skin Perfect will actually do for you.

The formula is creamy and smooth, and spreads smoothly on the skin. It also has that signature Garnier fresh fruity and leafy scent, which I love.

The colour matches my skin perfectly, but this has a lot to do with the fact that it’s quite sheer.

The coverage:

As you can see in the below snaps, the coverage is quite light. While it does greatly even out my skin tone, it offers little coverage for my imperfections. Also, because it’s a serious moisturiser, it leaves the skin quite shiny. With an application of mineral powder, my skin looks much improved, but my scars and sun spots are still clearly visible.

My overall impression is that I really like this product as a makeup base. I’ve been using it for many months now and I’m definitely going to buy it again. It’s the first base I’ve used that actually helps to prevent flakiness around my dry patches, and the moisturising effect is so long lasting that my skin feels great all day.

However I think Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector wouldn’t live up to expectations anyone who has used Asian BB Creams would have, such as that it would be a complete base makeup product that replaces foundation. Essentially Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector would really be nothing more than a great effective daily moisturising sunblock for people with more than minor skin imperfections. In this sense I think that Garnier has been somewhat insensitive by saying that the product would deliver ‘perfectly flawless, glowing skin in one application’, as this would probably only happen for only a small percentage of the population.

That said, Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector offers some other benefits that perhaps Asian BB Creams lack:

• Smooth and creamy texture as opposed to the thick sticky texture of many Asian BB Creams
• Available in a range of colours that would match most skin tones
• Serious and long lasting moisturising effects
• Not pore clogging what so ever

So personally I think this is a product worth trying, and at around $15 a tube, it’s great value for money!

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Secret giveaway time!!

I’ve got a tube of Garnier Miracle Perfector either in light or medium for one lucky reader – your pick! I’ve already got two official giveaways going (phew) so I’m not going to officially announce this one shhh! If you’d like to be in the running, just discreetly yell ‘enter me!’ in a comment to this post and I will draw a winner next Friday Review!  *wink*

Friday Review–Geo Big Grang Grang Choco

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When I tried Princess Mimi Bambi Almond Brown, I thought I had found the perfect brown lens. But now I think I have to go back on my words - earlier this week I received a pair of the new Geo Big Grang Grang Choco lenses from Lensvillage.com to review~

As always, shipping was impeccably fast! I received the package 3 days after they told me they’d sent it.

Geo Grang Grang is reportedly selling off the shelves in Asia. And no wonder. They are so natural looking!

Details:

Diameter : 15mm

Use : 1 Year

Manufacturer : GEO Medical 

Origin : South Korea

The design looks like it’s hundreds of pieces of randomly overlapping pieces of brown crystal. While they form a defined circle around the outside of the lens, the gradation is quite subtle. I noticed there is a little ‘B’ hidden inside the design for some reason, probably denoting that it’s the ‘Big’ 15mm Grang Grang, rather than the regular size, which is 14.2mm. I was hoping when I saw this that the ‘B’ wouldn’t show up when you put it on.

Nope, can’t see the ‘B’ haha. But oh my gosh how natural do these look!! And unlike some other natural looking brown lenses, the design shows up quite vividly against my super dark eyes!

Interestingly, these do look very very similar to Princess Mimi Almond Brown, which are also 15mm – check out the comparison:

When on, they look even more similar!

The difference is that Grang Grang Choco is more of a more vibrant yellowish brown, with a sparkly elemet, while Almond Brown is more of a grey brown and the design doesn’t show up that vividly.

The other more important difference? Grang Grang Choco is oh-so-amazingly comfortable! Even more comfortable than Almond Brown! As soon as you pick it up on your finger you can tell how thin the lens is. While there is a view that thin lenses retain less water and therefore dry out more quickly, they also feel comfortable on for the first few hours as opposed to thicker lenses. I wore these lenses for 12 hours today (not recommended!) and only toward the end did I start to feel my eyes drying out.

 

• Beautiful natural brown, and yet the design shows up quite well on even very dark eyes 
• Great enlarging effect
• So thin and soft and so so comfortable
• Also comes in a smaller 14.2mm design that’s even less noticeable when worn

• Because these lenses are super thin and soft, they tend to fold over by themselves when you’re trying to apply them

 

These lenses were supplied by www.lensvillage.com who has them for $23USD per pair – but use coupon code “10closetvoyage” to get a 10% discount!

 

What, what? My giveaway still underway!

Enter now!

Friday Review: Dolly Wink No.10 Sweet Cat

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When I heard of the second set of Dolly Wink false lashes ‘Produced by’ gyaru model Tsubasa Masuwaka, I was both excited and at the same time slightly weary. The new range is aimed at the ‘otona kawaii’ look, possibly translated as ‘mature cute’, which coincides with the recent trend in the gyaru style in Japan. I wondered if the new range could live up to the popularity of the first, with more natural and grown-up styles.

I picked up No.10 ‘Sweet Cat’, as it is the more dramatic looking of the range.

Taking a closer look at the design, you can see it completely deviates from the original Dolly Wink range in its focus looking natural. The strands are fine and closely spaced, with a few super long strands at the ends to give that ‘cat eye’ look.

I have to say that I’m really impressed with how natural these lashes look. However clearly the naturalness doesn’t take away from these lashes’ ability to create big dolly eyes. The contrast with the first Dolly Wink range designs is that ‘Sweet Cat’ is more suited to elongating the eye line rather than create the ‘tare-me’, or doopy eye effect.

While No.10 are not nearly as dramatic as designs like No.1 and No.2, I’m totally in love with it! The look is definitely ‘otona kawaii’ and I think this is a pair of lashes you could wear everyday.

In terms of quality and comfort, No.10 lives up to the Dolly Wink standard we’ve all come to appreciate. They are light and flexible, and feel very comfortable on. In fact these are even easier to apply than the previous Dolly Wink range before of the even softer spine, and closely knitted hair strands that give your eyelash glue more surface area to grip.

As always, I recommend pre-curling your lashes and applying a thick layer of mascara before application. To make the centre strands stand our more, I recommend applying mascara to the falsies after application.

• Very natural looking, but still delivering the big eyes effect 
• So light and flexible, so they are easy to apply and feel comfortable on
• Lashes don’t move along the spine easily, so can potentially last you quite a few applications
• As high quality and well made as expected from a Dolly Wink product.
• Durable, so while it is on the expensive side, a pack of two should last you quite some time.

• As it’s still new, this range isn’t widely available and is generally on the expensive side. I picked mine up for $17 a box from ebay (the original Dolly Wink range is available at www.sasa.com for only $13).
• Fans of the first Dolly Wink range will not necessarily like the new range, as its focus is shifted to a more natural and grown-up flavour.

Friday Review: Silky smooth Peri Pera Wonder of Lips lip colour

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As I’m currently in a lippy phase, I was delighted to be asked to review Vanitybox.com.au’s new range of lip colours from Korean brand Peri Pera!

This product promises to be silky smooth

This lippy comes in a great range of flattering colours from beige to bright pink. I’m reviewing ‘Wonder Peach’.

First let me just say thank you for this intelligent packaging design! What? No struggling for half an hour trying to lift the tab from a new box and then end up tearing it? Not with this this common-sensical cut out edge! (Yeah that’s probably not a word lol)

This product promises to be non-drying and non-stick. Well it doesn’t exaggerate! Peri Pera Wonder of Lips glides on like soft butter and doesn’t make my lips feel dry at all like some matte lippies can do. I also really love this colour. It’s almost nude, but has a flattering pink tinge that’s perfect for the signature gyaru nude lips look. 

The only down side is, being a pale peach colour, it’s somewhat unforgiving on peeling or dry lips. But that’s easily remedied with a coat of gloss over the top.

You might have noticed that I used this lippy for my Okarie droopy eyes tutorial!

• Totally cute packaging
• So smooth and feels great on
• Great range of totally dolly colours

• I did expect the colour to be more vibrant and opaque, but instead, it was quite pale and sheer. However the colour is buildable.

This review is sponsored by Vanity Box (http://vanitybox.com.au). They are based in Australia (yay!), but they ship internationally as well! They are still quite new, having only been around since 2010, but with their amazing products, excellent customer service and super fast shipping, I can tell they are going to be the next big thing. But there’s definitely something special about this retailer that gives them an edge against other more established online stores. Unlike some Asian fashion retailers, Vanity Box doesn’t ‘cattle drive’ their stock. You get a feeling from the effort they put into their well built website and excellent product descriptions that they are passionate about everything they sell. Also I might mention that the store owner is a dear!

This description on their website:

Beginning in mid 2010, Vanity Box is an online boutique store focusing on chic and trendy Korean fashion wear and Korean cosmetics. At Vanity Box, we aim to provide a pleasant shopping experience. Our motto is to provide quality yet affordable products without compromising our service. Vanity Box is the only foreign supplier of Ameli cosmetics, a new contender in the Korean market with a strong following online.