Thursday, November 29, 2012

Celebre Pro-HD Loose Mineral Finishing Powder by Mehron

During The Makeup Show (happened in March 2012), I received a powder from Mehron from the Blogger Preview Event.
Mehron isn't a well known brand in the beauty blogging stratosphere, but they should be. They make great, high quality products for makeup artists. Here's their mission...

"Dedicated to the development and manufacture of performance oriented makeup products of high quality and value, incorporating consumer usage benefits beyond normal expectations. To utilize the skills, the facility and the expertise we've gained over eight decades to develop and manufacture a full range of consumer health and beauty products for a select group of private label marketers."

They have all kinds of products from theatrical to beauty. This powder is from their beauty section.
Product Review: Celebre Pro-HD Loose Mineral Finishing Powder in Light/Medium

Where to purchase: mehron.com and stores that sell Mehron
Price: $14.95 for 0.41 oz/ 12 g

Made in USA

Description from the back: Celebre Pro-HD Loose Mineral Powder is the perfect luxurious matte finishing powder that perfectly compliments both Celebre Pro-HD Cream and Powder foundations. Made of French delaminated talc that is transparent, offering no whitening, keeping your colors bright and true. It improves slip and adhesion and offers lubricity. This ultra-fine powder provides the finishing touch that perfects and sets makeup for a healthy, flawless coverage.
Here's the back of the postcard the powder came with. It has the description which I wrote above, as well as, extra information.
Ingredients:
Thoughts: I've always heard about Mehron and their great quality products. Even though I heard about the brand, I never got anything. I'm one of those people who needs to see at least one product in person to be drawn to the brand. Since it's so hard finding this brand in stores, I never had the urge to get it. For that reason, I was excited to try this product!

When I received this in March, I was disappointed because it was too light for my skin tone. Since I'm getting paler with this winter weather, I knew I had to try this out. The packaging is very simple which I don't mind. I also like that it's a very sturdy. When you close the lid, you can feel how tight it is and know that loose powder will not come out. It's also very easy to open and again know that loose powder will not poof out.
The container comes with a sifter. You can take it out if you don't want to use it.
Here's a swatch of the powder on my hand. It looks light on my skin, but it's a perfect match.
Here's how the powder looks on me.

Now for my overall opinion... I love it! I tend to find a lot of powder including mineral powders cake-y if you apply too much. No matter how much I apply with this product, it looks natural on me. Not only is it natural looking, it's on the matte side. It doesn't have sparkle or shine. If you're looking for a heavy coverage, this product isn't it. It's on the light to medium side depending how much you apply. Since I have dry skin, most product tends to last all day on me. This is no exception. It lasts all day and I like that I don't have to reapply. To end my opinion, I find that all descriptions written on boxes/websites are never 100% accurate. This one is an exception. The description is 100% true to what they wrote!

Pros:
* Mehron; brand makeup artists use.
* Tight lid; no fall outs.
* Light to medium coverage.
* Matte.
* Natural looking.
* Flawless coverage.

Cons:
* Hard to find in stores.

Would repurchase: Yes!
Rating:  4.5/5 Tobey's Paws


Check out my other reviews from The Makeup Show.

Disclaimer: The product mentioned in this post are given to me to review. I am not affiliated with any company nor getting paid to advertise any products. This post is written with my honest opinion.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Holika Holika Love Fantasy Blush in Pink Fantasy

Disclaimer: The product mentioned in this post is bought with my money. I am not affiliated with the company nor getting paid to advertise the product. This post is written with my honest opinion. 

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Misikko Hana Air Professional Hair Dryer

Disclaimer: The product mentioned in this post is given to me. I am not affiliated with the company nor getting paid to advertise the product. This post is written with my honest opinion.

I am fortunate to work with Misikko and Hana Salon. Misikko is an online website dedicated to the best professional styling tools and beauty products on the market. Their theory is

"to easily shop and compare the best professional styling tools & beauty products on the market. As beauty aficionados and savvy consumers, our goal is to help you learn about the tools of the trade so you can find the right salon tools & products at the right prices - whenever & wherever the mood strikes."

I took this from the website.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Revlon PhotoReady Primer + Shadow in Metropolitan and Graffiti

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post are bought with my money and the giveaway is sponsored. I am not affiliated with the company except Aveeno nor getting paid to advertise the products and the giveaway. This post is written with my honest opinion.


Sunday, November 18, 2012

Billion Dollar Brows Universal Brow Pencil

Billion Dollar Brows is a name of salon located in Beverly Hills, California. The salon does eyebrows from waxing to brow lift. Not only do they do one-on-one services, they have their own line of eyebrow products.

"Eyebrows are one of the most important features of our faces - and yet they are often the most neglected.

We created Billion Dollar Brows to stop this neglect and help customers all over the globe obtain the beautify brows they deserve, at a sensible, price."

I took this from their website and they said it better than I could! I was fortunate to receive some products from Billion Dollar Brows (BDB). For this post, I will review BDB Universal Brow Pencil.

Where to purchase: billiondollarbows.com
Price: $14.95 for 0.009 oz/ 0.27 g

Made in USA

Description from the back: No more guessing games! This specially formulated pencil works with all hair colors & skin tones. One color fits all! Apply the pencil using light strokes until you've reached the desired shade. Apply more for darker hair color and skin tones. Apply less and blend more for lighter hair color and skin tones. Water resistant.
Ingredients:
Thoughts: I actually was pretty excited about the products before receiving them. The PR recommended the products. Not only that, but I could sense her excitement about the products. It made me more excited to receive and play around with them!

I decided to try this product out first. When I first started wearing makeup in college (yes, I started late), one of the first products I used were eyebrow pencils. Believe it or not it really does make a difference in someone's face. Us Asians or I should say specifically Koreans hardly have any eyebrow hairs. If they have a nice one, they are really lucky and blessed with great genes. Unfortunately, I was not blessed in this area. For that reason, I have to darken my eyebrows. The reason why I decided to try the pencil first reminded me of college. Once I was introduced to powder kits, I never went back to pencils and I'm not too sure why.
This is one end of the pencil. I love that you do not have to sharpen the pencil! I remember back in the old days I had to sharpen my eyebrow pencils. Whenever I sharpen the pencil, I could see some part of the product coming off. I thought it was such a waste. I do not have to worry about that with this product.

I also like that the pencil is soft. It's not harsh to the skin, and it applies easily. You do not need a steady hand or use it with all your strength. Even if you're not a professional when it comes to filling your eyebrows, it's easy to erase the marks if it goes out of your eyebrows. This is great for beginners, as well as, people who have been filling in their eyebrows for years.
This is the other end of the pencil. I was pretty impressed with the brush! It's very well-made and sturdy. In all honesty, I have to say this is the best brush I have seen on an eyebrow pencil!
Here's a swatch of the eyebrow pencil. This pencil only comes in this color. It's the universal color for all hairs. At first, I didn't believe it but now I do. It all depends on how you apply the pencil. If you go lightly, it will fit pale skin/blonde. If you do darker, it will fit dark skin/dark hair and everyone in-between.

Here's a look of my eyebrows before.
If you can tell, I hardly have hairs at the end of my eyebrows.

Now for my after picture...
For this day, I colored in lightly. Please excuse the flash it kind of washed out the look.
I took a picture of another day where I darken my eyebrows more.

Overall, this is a great pencil! You can color in your eyebrows from light to dark depending on what you would like. Not only that, but it lasts all day on me. The best part is that it's water resistant meaning you can sweat and it does not come off. I wore this on a hot day and it still lasted all day.

Pros:
* Universal color; do not have to choose colors.
* Mechanical pencil; do not need to sharpen.
* Well-made sturdy brush.
* Soft.
* Easy to apply.
* Good for all levels of experience; beginners to professional.

Cons:
* Hard to find in stores.
* Cannot test out before buying.

Would repurchase: Yes!
Rating:  4.5/5 Tobey's Paws

Disclaimer: The product mentioned in this post are given to me. I am not affiliated with any company nor getting paid to advertise any products. This post is written with my honest opinion.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Holika Holika Heart Ful Moisture Lipstick in Baby Beige and Sweet Coral, and Aveeno Winners

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post are bought with my money. I am not affiliated with the companies nor getting paid to advertise the products. This post is written with my honest opinion.

A week and a half ago, my father came back from Korea. It gave me an opportunity to order some Korean makeup. My first haul I'm going to show you is my Holika Holika.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Born Pretty Magic Color Changing Mood Nail Polish in #7

Disclaimer: The product mentioned in this post is given to me. I am not affiliated with the company nor getting paid to advertise the product. This post is written with my honest opinion.

Please don't forget to enter Aveeno "Oat Bundle" Giveaway. It ends November 11, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. PST (Pacific time).


Born Pretty Store contacted me and gave me an opportunity to review any nail polish. For the longest time I've been curious to try mood changing nail polishes. I took this opportunity to try their New Magic Purple/Sky Blue Color Changing Mood Nail Polish Nail Art.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

October Favorites and Finished Products, and Aveeno Giveaway Winners

Please don't forget to enter Aveeno "Oat Bundle" Giveaway. It ends November 11, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. EST (Eastern time).


Since I didn't do last month (September) favorites and finished products, I will combine the two months together.

October Favorites
The Body Shop Body Butter in Jolly Orange: A wonderful friend gave me this! :) It meant a lot to me, because she gave it to me during my times of struggle. Not only does it mean a lot to me, it smells great! To be honest, it doesn't smell like orange to me. I'm not too sure what the scent is, but it smells fruity and delicious. This body butter has been helping with my dry skin especially the transition from summer to fall.

Aveeno Positively Ageless Lifting & Firming Eye Cream: I love that it's more a cream than a gel. From my experience, creams are meant more for aging skin than gel (gel tends to only hydrate). Not only is it for aging skin, it's also good for people with dark circles. While you're patting the cream onto your skin, you can feel it sink in.

Celebre Pro-HD Loose Mineral Finishing Powder in Light/Medium/LTM: I received this product from The Makeup Show around March. At the time, my skin was too dark for this. Now that my skin is getting lighter (hardly see sun since I work indoors), it fits perfectly. In all honesty, I'm not a fan of loose powders but I will make an exception for this. This product is amazing! It doesn't cake onto your face like other mineral products. It looks natural, flawless but at the same time it covers your imperfection.

BDB (Billion Dollar Brows) Universal Brow Pencil: I received this product and I will review in a week or two. One end is an automatic pencil and the other end is the brush. I love how the pencil stays on your brow all day long, at the same time, you can comb your hair into place. The brush isn't cheap either. It's really well made.

Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in Peach Parfait: I'm not a big fan of the glitter, but I love the color! It's my favorite color from this line. I also love that the glitters are not that noticeable on the lips. This would be perfect if Revlon makes one without the glitter, but I still love it! Not only do I love the color, it's also moisturizing. It helps my dry lips.


October Finished Products
L'oreal Voluminous Million Lashes Mascara: I'm not a big fan of this mascara. You can see my thorough review. It just didn't hold my lashes which I need badly with my heavy, Asian lashes. That's the first thing I look for in mascaras. I also didn't like that it didn't give me the million lashes as they claim.

Would repurchase: No.

Guerlain Super Aqua Lotion: I did a swap with a friend. We swapped used products that didn't work for us, and hoping it works for the other. This is an alright toner. It's refreshing, but I don't see anything spectacular compared to other toners. For an expensive brand, I needed to see something that stood out for me to repurchase. I can just buy any drugstore toner that is comparable.

Would repurchase: No.

b.liv Mask in Repair & Rescue: I already reviewed this mask. It's an alright mask, but it kind of dried my skin out. For that reason, I'm not a big fan. Other than that, this would have been a great mask!

Would repurchase: No.

Kirkland Daily Facial Cleansing Towelettes: I reviewed this wipe. This is the wipes I always go back to. It's just convenient for me to purchase (easy access), at the same time, I know I'm getting a great quality product that cleans/wipes my makeup well.

Would repurchase: Yes.

The Body Shop Body Butter in Strawberry: A friend gave me this around my birthday. Actually, I think it's suppose to be my Christmas gift. I'm not too sure. :X People who know me well know I love the body butter from The Body Shop. They're extremely moisturizing and melts into your skin like butter. Even though I love the body butter, I have to say I wasn't too keen on the scent. It didn't smell like strawberry, and I love strawberry scents. What a bummer!

Would repurchase: Yes, in other scents.

Bath & Body Works Signature Collection Body Lotion in White Citrus: My co-worker gave me this for Christmas. What a sweet lady! In all honesty, I'm not a big fan of Bath & Body Works unless it's the cream lotion. The cream lotion is thicker in consistency, as well as, hydrating for my dry skin. With this body lotion, I can only use it during the summer when I need light moisture. For that reason, I saved this lotion for the summer. The scent is true to name. It's on the citrus side. The smell is decent, but there's a lot more scents I like better than this.

Would repurchase: No, but maybe in cream formula and a different scent.

Aveeno Positively Nourishing Calming Body Lotion: I reviewed this product. I have a thorough review so feel free to check that post out. Overall, this product is great! It's extremely moisturizing for all skin types. It's also not that thick in consistency so it's good for all skin types. If I had to choose when it comes to scent, I would choose Energizing. It's the same product just different scent.

Would repurchase: Yes, but in the other scent (Energizing).

Etude House Hand Bouquet Rich Butter Hand Cream: This is another product I swapped with a friend hoping the product will work better for the other person. I actually ended up liking this product. Initially, I was not too keen on the scent since I'm not a floral type of person. After I got use to the scent, I started enjoying it. It's very thick in consistency so this hand cream isn't for people who do not have dry skin. For my skin, it was perfect.

Would repurchase: Yes.

Jessica Bend Don't Break Nail Treatment: A friend gave me this since she has strong nails. Me, on the other hand, have weak nails. I used this as a base hoping it'll strengthen my nails before applying nail polish. Let me tell you it didn't strengthen my nails at all. It might be a different story if I only wore this alone, but I love wearing nail polishes even though I have weak nails. :X Even though it didn't strengthen my nails, it made a great base. My nails never turned yellow!

Would repurchase: No.


The winners of Aveeno "On the Fly Fix-Up" Giveaway...
will win Pure Renewal Dry Shampoo, Ultra-Calming Makeup Removing Wipes, and Positively Radiant Tinted Moisturizer.

The winners are...
#23...
Neha David
#240...

Anna/Anna Luu-Ngo
#75...
Kristina Vieweg.

Congratulations to Neha David, Anna Luu-Ngo, and Kristina Vieweg! :)

You have 48 hours to contact me with your name and address. E-mail me at aly_4realz (at) hotmail (dot) com. If you don't contact me within 48 hours, I will draw a new winner.

Thank you Aveeno for a wonderful giveaway!!! :)

Disclaimers: The products mentioned in this post are bought with my own money except for The Body Shop, Aveeno, Celebre, BDB, L'oreal, Guerlain, b.liv, Bath & Body Works, Etude House, and Jessica. I am not affiliated with any company nor getting paid to advertise any products. This post is written with my honest opinion.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Mont Bleu Compact Mirror in ACSP-06.1

Disclaimer: The product mentioned in this post are given to me and picture taken from Mont Bleu. I am not affiliated with any company nor getting paid to advertise any products. This post is written with my honest opinion.

Please don't forget to enter Aveeno "On the Fly Fix-Up" Giveaway. It ends November 4, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. EST (Easter time).

Please don't forget to enter Aveeno "Oat Bundle" Giveaway. It ends November 11, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. EST (Eastern time).


Last year, I was fortunate to be introduced to glass nail files. If you have never tried glass nail files, you are missing out. It's the best type of files I have ever used! I highly recommend it especially if you're into nails.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Wet N Wild ColorIcon Palette in Sparkle 'Til Morning

Please don't forget to enter Aveeno "On the Fly Fix-Up" Giveaway. It ends November 4, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. EST (Eastern time).

Please don't forget to enter Aveeno "Oat Bundle" Giveaway. It ends November 11, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. EST (Eastern time).


Happy belated Halloween! I hope you had a great one with candies. :)


Wet N Wild recently came out with three LE (limited edition) ColorIcon Palettes for the Holiday 2012 Collection "Where's the Party?"
I picked up two out of the three. I got #33917 Sparkle 'Til Morning and #33918 Drinking A Glass Of Shine. I did not pick up the third one #33919 Shimmer The Night Away. For this post, I'm going to review Sparkle 'Til Morning.
Product Review: Wet N Wild ColorIcon Palette in Sparkle 'Til Morning

Where to purchase: drugstores and online
Price: $4.99 for 0.3 oz/ 8.5 g

Made in USA

Description from the back: A stunning collection of 8 silky, ultra-pigmented day-to-night colors. Mix-and-match for a variety of looks from sweet to wild!
* All-day, crease-resistant color
Ingredients:
Thoughts: Out of the three palettes, I was most excited about this palette. I knew I would get the most out of this palette since most of the colors are what I wear in daily basis. The packaging fits well with all Wet N Wild 8-Shadows Palettes. I like how they're all the same size, dimension, as well as, same design. It's easier to store together compared to some palettes being bigger than others. One thing I like about their packaging is that it comes with a clear lid. It helps to distinguish the different palettes and know which color decision to choose.
The palette comes with one sponge/brush applicator. I'm not fan of the brush applicator. The hairs spreads out and it's not compacted.
Here's a swatch of the left column.
Now for the right column.

I honestly think the shadows are true to their swatches. They have different textures from glittery (eyelid on the right column) to semi-matte (crease on the right column). I like how the palette does not consist only of shimmery shadows or glittery.

Now for my opinion on this palette... If you're looking for original/unique colors, this palette isn't it. Most of the colors I have seen, as well as, you can find dupes of them in other Wet N Wild Palettes (Trios and/or ColorIcons). With that said, I still like this palette. I'm a palette-type of girl. I rather have colors that I can mix from one place rather than choosing one color here and there. Maybe that's why I hardly buy single eyeshadows, and the ones I do have I hardly reach for them. :X

Compared to the other ColorIcons palettes, the shadows seem a little bit more compacted. I see less loose powder after usage. The definer on the right column has the most loose powder after usage. With that said, I still don't think this palette is travel friendly. I can see the shadows breaking with travel and if you drop the palette.

Here's two looks I did with this palette.
Look #1:
I used most of the colors from the left column.

Look #2:
I only used the right column for this look.

I used a primer, UDPP, with the shadows and they lasted all day long. There's no creasing and the eyeshadows did not fade.

Pros:
* Wet N Wild; brand that's cheap with good quality.
* Same dimension.
* Clear lid.
* Multi-texture shadows.
* Pigmented.
* Lasts all day.

Cons:
* Brush applicator hair spreads out.
* Not travel friendly.
* Not unique/original colors.

Would repurchase: Yes.
Rating:  4.5/5 Tobey's Paws


Last week, I've been obsessed with making this knitted scarf.
So obsessed it only took me three days. I guess three nights of 2-3 hours each. Here's my final result. I actually love it a lot! :) It was a lot of fun and easy. I want to make another one. :X
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