Beauty: 2015 Favourites

Year end roundups always has a sort of level of difficulty; it's easy to talk about items I like on a monthly basis but when I have to generalise throughout the entire year?

For my 2015 Beauty Favourites I carefully curated a good mix of beauty items that I felt I really did enjoy consistently throughout the year (or from whenever I first procured the product) and that I feel I'm very likely repurchase should it run out or gets damaged. Some of the items I've previously talked about on the blog, but should do leave a comment if you wish for any in-depth review ~

A quick review of items included:

• Murad Oil-Control Mattifier: amazing for my very oily skin as a base, though it runs out really quickly
• Marc Jacobs The Bronze Brush: incredibly soft tapered dome brush I use as an all over powder brush
• Aritaum Mono Eyes Eyeshadow: generally good quality throughout with a wide selection of shades for an amazing price
• CosRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence: gel type essence that sinks into the skin and repairs the skin's moisture barrier
• Lalavesi Akma Base Cushion SS: long lasting cushion foundation with good coverage for oily skin
• Pixi Glow Tonic: light chemical exfoliant that greatly improves texture of skin
• Clio Tinted Tattoo Kill Brow: long lasting brow tint

Beauty/Review: PONY Effect That Girl Luminous Contour Palette

PONY is a celebrity makeup artist largely popular in Korea and around the world, and has been associated with many collections like Memebox and Etude House Play 101. She came out with her own makeup line awhile back, titled PONY Effect; the first of which is titled "That Girl" and consists of a modest collection of makeup and nail products with a standardised purple/pink ombre and holographic accented packaging. The reception of the products are generally hyped and well received, and the product I'm going to share today is the PONY Effect That Girl Luminous Contour Palette!

The That Girl Luminous Contour Palette is sleek compact that contains four separate cheek powders; two highlighting and two contour shades. The palette contains 14g of products and retails for 28,000원 (~$28). PONY Effect describes it as a palette "designed for light to medium skin tones, this contour palette consists of 4 essential shades for strobing and contouring makeup. Use the highlighter shades to get a healthy glow, and the darker shades to sculpt & define".

• Muse Maker is a light shimmer golden and silver pearl highlighting powder. It is incredibly light on the skin and leans yellow toned; perfect for under the eyes and giving an overall natural and smooth finish.
  
• Angel Skin is a pink-golden based with diamond pearl finishing powder that is meant for strobing. The powder itself is very light and barely shows up on the skin with its pearls being incredibly fine, and reminds me of the ambient lighting powders in giving the skin an overall healthier glow while not appearing overly strobed.
  
• Divine Work is a dark nude colour with fine silver pearls meant to give a healthy complexion used in conjunction with Behind Story. I didn't really enjoy this particular shade since it was too light on my skin to give any real definition, though I think it would make for a great everyday shade.
  
• Behind Story is a warm-toned light mocha brown for natural shading and definition.

The texture of the all the powders are very fine and produces little fall-out overall, and lasts decently on the skin. They are meant to be a natural strobing/contouring palette for Koreans, and hence the products are neither the most pigmented nor the darkest. They are definitely meant for fair skinned ladies looking for a natural finish.

Overall, for the target market and the natural effect it gives I would rate it a good 7/10. However, I do feel that given the price, there are many other better-performing products that would better give me the chiselled effect I personally tend towards.

I'll definitely post reviews of products in the same line; do look out for them! ^^

Beauty/Review: Etude House Play 101 Stick Foundation and Contour Duo

One of the highly hyped and anticipated releases following the successful Play 101 Pencils are the Etude House Play 101 Sticks! Once again, they partnered with Pony Makeup for a series of makeup tutorials making use of the products. I only got the stick foundation and contour duo of the entire line, but the blushes and other cheek products swatched beautifully in store as well. Across the line, the packaging is the same sort of simple light plasticky material with a cap that locks nicely.





The Etude House Play 101 Stick Foundation come in four shades; 01 Bare (very pink-toned), 02 Vanilla (which I got, and brightened my NC15-20 skin tone well), 03 Beige (natural light shade) and 04 Sand (not very dark at all, in stores it appeared to be about NC25-30 at best). Etude house describes them as "a long lasting, multi-function foundation stick that glides onto skin completing smooth and flawless-looking face with the soft and creamy texture". The product contains 7.5g of product, and retails for W12,000 (~$12).

I'd like to preface this by saying that I have very oily skin, hence longevity and oil control is often something I look out for. Given that, I did not like this foundation. I felt that the formula was, while creamy, caked up on my less than perfect skin and around my blemishes. The best way I've found to apply the product was by spreading it very lightly and blending out with a damp beauty blender, which gives a decently natural finish.

The product did not last very long on my oily skin (though likely a lot better on other skin types), and oil significantly broke through by the 3-4 hour mark. It has a medium coverage and covers redness well. The product also has really good spreadability and was very easy to blend.





Next is the Etude House Play 101 Stick Contour Duo which is a duo-ended cream-type contour and highlight stick. Etude House describes it as "a creamy contour duo that creates a look of authentic dimensionality of face". The product retails for W12,000 (~$12) and contains 1.7g of product on each side.

Now, this product I quite enjoyed. I haven't tried much cream type contouring products (preferring powder products), but the creaminess and blendability of the formulation made it so easy to shape the face. The shader, meant to be used under the cheeks and along the perimeters of the face, is a matte warm-toned brown that is surprisingly dark (photo turned out significantly lighter than in person). The highlighter is a very light near-white matte shade.

The shades aren't my first choice for highlighting and shading (since I prefer cool-toned browns and skin-toned highlighters with very fine shimmer) but I do think that it is a good and travel-friendly product especially for people just starting out with contouring.

Translation
Step 1: Apply a Play 101 Stick Foundation that matches your skin tone before using the Play 101 Stick No. 11 following the perimeters of your skin broadly.
Step 2: Apply the Play 101 Stick Contour Duo on the forehead, nose and chin carefully, and blend it out using your fingers.

Recent Aesthetics

Beauty/Review: Best Cushion Foundation For Oily Skin? - Lalavesi Akma Cushion SS

There are three different finishes available for the Lalavesi Akma Cushion, demarcated by seasons; FW for a more hydrating finish for dry skin, SF for combination/normal skin, and SS for a more long-lasting and matte finish for oily skin. Lalavesi describes the SS version to be able to keep tone and coverage for up to 24 hours, and contains France volcanic rock extract for sebum control. The product contains 20g with a refillable pact and an air puff, and retails for ₩26,500 (~$26.50).

The packaging is simple and sturdy. I chose to purchase the original case, but Lalavesi also rolled out a couple of additional packagings that are more youthful as well.

I got it because most beauty sites were largely recommending it as a good long-lasting cushion foundation for oily skin and I had to try it for myself! The product was also often sold out online, attesting its popularity.



First of all: I have incredibly oily skin and I've given up any thoughts of any base products not breaking up on me at the end of a long day. While I have a few, I've never excessively loved cushion foundations as well.

But.. I really like this!! It holds up well on my skin when I prep my skin well (oil-cut base+primer+powder) and I absolutely love the finish it gives on my skin. Applied lightly, it gives a natural finish that mimics skin while giving one of the better coverages I've seen from cushion foundations. I find myself having to blot about 6-7 hours later (which is quite a good number for me), and I can imagine it lasting even longer and better on anyone who's skin is not as ridiculously oily as mine.



The shade I chose was Y2; it's a little fairer on my skin so I tend to focus it on the triangle zone of my skin. But overall I give two thumbs up to this cushion base! One of the best I've found recently that combines longevity, coverage and oil control all to a good extent.