Etude House Lip Stains

Eek, long time no update. And yet I've actually received a lot of new stuff lately which I need to review still, including my GMarket order. However, two of the lipstains I'm reviewing in this entry are from that GMarket order, and the rest will come later.

Etude House is one of my favorite Korean lines, cheap but really good quality. I ordered one of the dual-ended Tint Glosses in my first order, which is very similar to Benefit's Pocket Tint. About 1/5th of the price though, which rocks.

(I promise I'll review the Skinfood lip&cheek tints next, as they are comparable to Bobbi Brown's Pot Rouges and Grapefruit is a dupe for the super-popular Calypso Coral shade.)

Swatches on my arm, remember I'm NW10 which is as pale as it gets!

Leftmost is the stain end of the Tint Gloss, the shade is called "Cherry". The texture is much thicker and a bit trickier to apply evenly. The applicator is a doe-foot.

Middle is the Aqua 10 Proof Tint in Shade 2. (The other shade is a fuschia color). It's not as vibrant as the tint gloss but I love the texture and it applies much more smoothly.

Rightmost is the Fresh Cherry Tint in Pink. This is my favorite of the three, and I was skeptical about trying a pink stain as it just seems weird. But it looks great on, not too bright or too pale/milky. Love it.

Price-wise these cost about $5 each, all purchased from the official Etude House seller on GMarket. I ordered quite a fair bit from the seller and they included a very cute skincare kit which I might do as my next giveaway!

Phew, hope that was a good enough review! I've had a bit of an exciting day so I am off to download obtain legally the new episode of Doctor Who, eat some leftover pizza, and play with Cleo.

Two Recent Orders

I broke my no-buy to place a small order at Bobodave and used my GMarket gift certificate (plus a shipping credit I had in my cash balance leftover from my first order) to make an order without spending a penny. Whee!

Bobodave
- I bought another Etude House travel kit -- this one is from the Aqua Sherbert line. It comes with travel-size versions of the Lotion, Toner, and Gel. Reviews seem to agree that this is a cooling sort of line, perfect for summer. There is apparently alaskan glacial water in it, and the scent is grapefruit. I'm not a grapefruit fan but I am curious! Like the summer set I reviewed previously, this one was around $4.
- Next is a GWP that came with the recent release of Paul and Joe's Alice in Wonderland collection. The actual tin sets were very pricey, and I don't use blotting powders (rendering half of the set useless). Bobodave has the exclusive GWP that was given out for only $10. It's adorable, but there have been varying reports of the goodies included. They all seem to include a small foundation compact and a pressed powder sample, but some come with toner/cleansing milk bottles, and one on Ebay came with a brightening serum instead. In any case, you can see some photos of the GWPs at the following links:
AskCleo, Ebay, Iswii.net. So cute!
- Some Jill Stuart samples, including samples of the Day Care Essence, Hydro-filler, and a mini/travel size of the Brightening Eye Cream.
- A little Majolica Majorca mirror for my purse.

GMarket
- I hauled Etude House! Snagged two lip stains/tints, a face highlighter, and two sheet masks.
- I also picked up a baked blush by Clio, which I read about on Kathi's blog. The packaging is very cool, all artwork prints and such. I picked up a pinky peach that reminded me of MAC Springsheen or NARS Orgasm. Very excited!

A Mysterious Package...

So this morning, a rather large package showed up at my apartment... With glee, I raced downstairs to the main floor to greet the mail carrier, and signed for it.

Open it up... more boxes!

Slightly wasteful, in my humble opinion. Plus I suspect this is why shipping was so astronomically high, eurggggggh.

Freebies and extras! I think that's a sheet mask top-left. Some BB creme samples (swatches coming later), maxipads (LOL), some Etude House collagen creme samples, a little soap sample, a small MU remover from Banila Co, and cotton squares. Woo!

My Skincare Stash -- Quick Reviews

Lately I've been diving into a skincare regime. Most will cringe when I admit that I hardly ever wash my face. I have very porcelain skin, no blemishes or uneven-ness. I find I don't need a lot of maintenance to keep it looking fresh. When I do wash my face, it's usually because a blackhead has appeared (porcelain skin means your pores are very fine, so when a blackhear pops up, it can be very difficult to remove) and I will use Neutrogena's Stress-Control Acne Wash until it's gone.

Ever since I got into Japanese cosmetics, though, I've noticed that they all have the same sort of fair skintone as I do. I went on a sample spree on Bobodave and picked up some mini/travel sizes to play with. Between my Bobodave order, my Sasa order, and the extras I'd hoarded from swapping on MUA, I had quite a stash to play around with.

 

For the past month or so, I've been working my way through some of these. I can tell you right away that the duds so far are the Vichy, the Laura Mercier, and the Chanel moisturizers with SPF. I'm fairly certain the Chanel sample I got was rancid, which sucks. Or maybe it smells like crap all the time? The LM felt very drying, and the Vichy was too greasy.

The Etude House SPF 50, on the other hand? It's juuuust right. (I reviewed this previously here). I included the Vichy and LM as extras in swaps, and tossed the Chanel. The Aveda sample has also gone onto a new home.

That tiny hexagon-shaped container on the right is Kanebo Suisai Beauty Clear Powder. It's a powder that you pour into your hand, add a small amount of water, which creates a lovely exofoliating cleanser that you use on the face.

I've been using the Kanebo Raphaie set (far right) the past week. The Cleansing Milk is very mild and gentle, but I like my cleansers to feel more... cleansing... rather than moisturizing. Once the samples are gone, I don't think I'll purchase the fullsize version.

Expect more comprehensive reviews of everything else once I've given them a try. I'm excited!

Etude House Travel Kit

This was an impulse buy from Bobodave. I was hoarding samples and this lovely little kit was only $7.88. Etude House is a Korean line that has awesome skincare and cosmetics, but I've only been lucky so far as to try these four items (so far)!

The kit contains travel sizes of four skincare items in a handy little bag.

- Baking Powder Pore Cleanser Foam: This has a nice scent to it; it sounds very familiar but I can't quite name it! It foams up quite nicely and has an exfoliating quality to it (the baking powder). It's mild enough that it doesn't sting if I get it near my eyes, which is a bonus.

- Aqua Sherbet Aloe Soothing Gel: This is a gel with aloe that has a clean, soft scent. A tip I read is to refrigerate it before using. I bet this would be amazing to use after being out in the sun, or on a sunburn. Might have to hang onto this until summertime...

- Perfect Proof Sun Guard SPF 50/ PA: First of all, this smells incredible! I would have preferred a beefier bottle of this rather than the pore cleaner foam, especially since I'm getting the sense this travel kit is more for summer holidays. The texture is very light and thin as opposed to sunscreen which can be very thick. I have ordered a full tube of their Glow Guard, which is in the same line but has fine shimmer/glitter in it for a dewy look. That's on its way in my GMarket order, so I will review it when it arrives!

- Sweet Appleade Body Wash: This has quite a strong scent but once you get it lathered up on the body it's much lighter. It smells a lot like green apples, which can be a bit sour to some people but I like it. It foams up really well and is quite refreshing. I've already used up half the tube, so I might be repurchasing a full bottle soon!