Random samples: first impressions

Here's my 2 cents of product samples I've used in the past few months.

Caudalie eye and lip cream - This cream feels so nice and light weight, and does a great job at moisturizing. I've only used it for a week and noticed very slight difference in my dark eye circles. However, I'm not sure if I am willing to splurge $49 on it...

Nars Radiant Tinted Moisturizer in Alaska - I wanted to love this because I've heard so much rave about it, however I can't. Within 3 hours of using this TM I start getting oily on my T-zone and cheeks. This has not happened with my theBalm TM... I like the higher SPF, but I find that it made my skin look more dull despite the oil pool later on.

Dior Hydra Life BB creme - This BB cream broke me out :( I really wanted to like this product, because I wanted to get it when I was in the US, but the results were disappointing. I'm just so glad I got to try a sample of it before purchasing the full size (a whooping $56USD!)

Phyto Phytopolleine Universal Elixir Scalp stimulant - I got this in one of my monthly subscriptions and I really love it. I have troubled skin and my scalp was not spared (please excuse me) but my scalp flakes like crazy! After my first use of this I was extremely happy that it worked so well. I will be purchasing purchased the full size of this product. It has a very strong but not unpleasant smell of eucalyptus and work quite well to maintain a healthy scalp.

Suisse Programme Gigawhite Fresh UV Shield Moisturizer SPF15 - I had a 2ml sample that lasted me 3 applications. This product smells awesome and has a little bit of SPF which I like, however I was surprised to find that it wasn't quite moisturizing enough for me... Certain areas on my face dried up throughout the day. At a whooping 83$ on Sasa, I will not be purchasing~

Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunscreen Lotion SPF55 - This is a nice sunscreen with high SPF and covers both UVA and UVB. It dries non-sticky and smells okay for a sunscreen. I would so purchase this product if I wasn't already overstocked with them :) This is something to keep in mind next summer as it is both waterproof and sweatproof (tested from all the swimming and tubing down while on vacation.)

Apologies for not having any pictures for this post as they are mostly samples, perhaps I should take a pictures of samples before I try them out next time :)

BB cream checklist

I find it helpful to make a list of what is important to have or not have when shopping for products. Here's a list I compiled for BB cream.

• Anti-aging - even though I'm in my late twenties, I think prevention is the best way to treat any problem
• Colour - Some BB cream have a grey cast, while others are more pink or yellow
• Cost - Sometime justified with the quality of products, sometimes not.
• Coverage - I find that not all North American BB cream have the same coverage, some are more like tinted moisturizers and others almost like Asian BB cream
• Cruelty-free - I haven't really started using cruelty-free products, but I am considering it
• Glitter/Shimmer - Don't like it and some Asian BB cream have it, so avoiding it~
• Moisturizing - Added benefit, so that I can skip a step in the morning
• Non-comedogenic - for someone who is acne-prone, this is nice to have, even though it doesn't decrease your acne, it won't add to it!
• Oil Control - I've got an oily T zone, so I find this important to have
• Oil-free - my skin tend to react better to oil-free products
• Scent - I prefer fragrance free products since I get sensory overload easily
• SPF - love it for day time, you need UV protection all year round, not just for summer
• Whitening features - This is an Asian thing, where we always want to be more 'fair,' a nice bonus to have but not a necessity.

What are your criteria when buying a product?

Bourjois + Vichy = Treats from eM

Some new products to try out this week and Tarepanda decided to make an appearance :)

Vichy ProEven BB cream [review coming up] was the reason why I had to make another trip to SDM. I tried out the BB cream earlier and really enjoyed it, and I also wanted to make use of the SDM bonus points event. It isn't until I purchased it that I realized this is one of Vichy's new fall products. There is no reviews online for it yet... So I shall be the Guinea pig!!

The Vichy bb cream claims to:
- even out skin tone
- boost radiance
- conceal dark spots
- reduce the look of wrinkles
- hydrate for 24hours
** other features include: SPF 20 broad spectrum UVA/UVB protection, paraben-free and fragrance-free, hypoallergenic, and available in two shades: light to medium and medium to dark

Sounds promising, hopefully I will have better luck with this BB cream, since most Asian ones are too light for me and tends to break me out.

While I was there, I also picked up the Bourjois healthy balance unifying powder in 53 Beige Clair (Light beige) because of its silky texture (it also smells so sweet~~ *drools*) This powder is suppose to be hydrating, anti-shine and last up to 10hours. I haven't actually tested this product out yet, but the reviews on it seems to be good so I am hopeful! Last minute decision and I picked up a Bourjois blush in 34 Rose D'or.

More even complexion~

I do not normally bother with bb cream/foundation nor do I usually cover my dark eye circles, but the reason for this is not because my skin is perfect. I am simply too lazy.

This weekend changed everything (for now...)

I was home alone and bored, so in an attempt to find 'the' angle, I decided to take multiple pictures of myself (so vain!)... when I noticed these...

Ugly, semi dark circles that were purple... The colour in this picture is slightly washed out ... but its existence was clear and they are hideous... I HAD to hide them...

And so... before the bridal show I went to Shoppers with Roni (plus her fiancé) and picked these up...

Let's start off with the BB cream...

 Garnier's BB cream

It feels like every company is coming out with their own version of BB cream... and after reading some reviews, it really made me want to grab Marcelle's new BB cream to try out. But we found the Garnier BB cream on sale for $9, so I decided to try it out instead (at the incredibly reasonable price). Here is the swatch on NW 20 skin~

I got it in light/medium and it looks like the perfect match for me... It blended out nicely and unlike asian BB cream, does not have the greyish undertone at the beginning. So far I've only used it for 3 days, therefore I haven't really tested it out fully... but I like it, it does not seem to break me out. The only drawback is that after 2 to 3 hours my face becomes an oil pool on my cheeks and T zone... Today I tried applying a translucent powder and it seems to improve the situation, but will have to see how it does later on :)

Benefit Cosmetics boi-ing in Light 01

As for the concealer... I picked up Benefit's boi-ing in Light 01... it felt/looked like the right shade but now I'm starting to think that on its own it is too light for me, but the medium is too dark... I will mix it up with my erase paste (in medium) and see if it's a better match... will experiment and report :)

so far it's...

Bu-bye dark circles! Hello even complexion :)

No makeup, just BB cream and concealer :)

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So I think I know why the Garnier BB cream I got is on sale... look in....

 The first ad is the BB cream... but WITH SPF15!

It looked just like the one I had... so I put it on the page to cover it ^_^

BB cream craze!

I've been following Bubz on youtube for a while now and for the last 2 vids she mentioned this BB cream that she is using now because of recent breakout... so I got curious and looked it up... Now I wanted to try it! The one that she used is the Skin79 BB cream, which upon searching online, I found that this brand have 13 different BB cream to choose from for different skin type as well as different options we may look for in a cream (ie whitening, spf, etc.) They have a chart that help us identify which one is best for "me." So I decided to check out their authorized dealer in the GTA to find that the one in Pmall is out of stock and I could not for the life of me find the one located in Time Square T^T I didn't end up buying it this weekend, which turns out to be in my favour because last night I chilled with Daisy (my bestest bud's girl) and she let me try the BB cream that she had (one from Missha and the other one from Skinfood) Yay!!

I am so excited about this that I tried the Missha one this morning. I found out that it applies on smoothly and really help even out my skin tone. The coverage is light to medium, I think it is buildable, however I prefer just a nice thin coat. The product also lasted me the entire day. Will continue using it for the next week to see results :) Hopefully it'll be everything I need it to be :)