Category: Sellers (Page 1 of 4)

RE:CIPE ROSE PETAL CLEANSING OIL & GREEN TEA SLOWGANIC CLEANSER REVIEW

November 26, 2015 / The Beauty Wolf

Cleansing. There’s a reason that “lather rinse repeat” is shorthand for tedium, boredom, and the humdrum tasks we must do in life. Washing your face is one such task that’s usually pretty boring. It’s fairly hard to get excited about a cleanser, the last time the masses got excited was around the Miracle Rose Cleansing Stick, which will always be a favourite but I’m a thrill seeker. It’s been a while and I’m always on the lookout for something new. Fortunately, I had InsiderBeauty send me some excitement.

First of all, just let me say how much I love InsiderBeauty. Browsing through their curations you’d be hard pressed to find a dud in the bunch. Everything is wonderful! I am continually impressed with what they choose to stock their store with. Every single time I hit up the What’s New section I’m like “OMG yes, yes, yes, and yes, get in my cart”. I also love that they have free shipping on orders over $35 and $5 shipping on orders less than that. They’re really a pleasure to deal with and I highly recommend shopping with them! (and no, I’m not at all paid to say that, I just really enjoy their selection, pricing, and professionalism).

Back to the cleansers. Wooooo boy!
I’m going to start backwards and talk about the most unique of the pair, the Green Tea Slowganic Cleanser. This stuff is so neat! I’m going to try really hard to describe the texture but I don’t think I’m going to be able to properly convey to you how weird (in a good way!) it is. It’s bouncy like jello, but more firm like icecream. It would be kinda of like of a porous gelatine had a baby with a thickest mousse imaginable, yet it’s light and airy. See? It makes no sense!

Fanserviced has a great video of it in action from her amazing post about fun cleansers
https://youtube.com/watch?v=TjrRmC2S_6g

Insider Beauty describes it on their site as
“Carefully hand-made with 98% natural ingredients, this bouncy, souffle-like texture will slowly melt into a soothing and rich foam, dissolving impurities while retaining skin’s critical moisture barrier. Infused with 12 organic ingredients including green tea, this pH-balanced cleanser will leave your skin feeling soft, comfortable, and freshly clean.”
I thought it would be way more unwieldily to deal with than it actually is. It’s actually quite easy to get the hang of once you use it a couple of times. No, it’s not as easy as lazily tossing off a few squirts of liquid cleanser (oh my, that sounds so naughty) but it is a hell of a lot of fun using the provided spatula to dig into the jiggly solid mousse and getting out a small chunk to use. And the foamy mousse it suds up into is very creamy and nice. I can’t speak for the lemon version as I haven’t tried it yet, but the green tea version does not dry out my already dry face. It’s a very gentle, effective, cleansing. It leaves my face soft, clean, and happy! It also has a pH of 5.5 which is perfect!

Now, onto the other treasure, the Rose Petal Cleansing Oil. I mentioned the Sum37 Miracle Rose Cleansing Stick earlier, and actually, this reminds of of Miracle Rose’s oil cousin. Both have rose petals, both smell amazing, and both will expertly remove your makeup and sunscreen as a first step cleanser. I’m going to go farther and say that for me, this removes tough makeup even better than the Miracle Rose. The Recipe Rose Petal Cleansing Oil is so far, and by far, the only first step cleanser that has been able to remove ALL traces of my Duo brand eyelash glue. Duo glue is the devil, that shit is so difficult to remove from my very delicate eyelids and this cleaner just melts that stuff off like it’s nothing. As someone with both sensitive and delicate eyes, this is a godsend. I am cursed with straight, short eyelashes on my top lids, I wear false eyelashes almost every single day, the glue is irritating and it’s removal has always been a problem for me. I’ve used some excellent cleansers that removed all traces of my point makeup, and even then I’d still have a bit of residue left. This is the first oil cleanser I’ve tried that gets rid of everything and gets rid of it with a very gentle ease! Here it is up against TonyMoly Backstage Gel Liner (and some bb cream) which is the difficult standard to which I test all oil cleansers:

Hello Adele, now goodbye

Gone!

See? Like a knife through hot butter, it just cuts all through the shit. Easy peasy. And the smell, man, I loooove the smell. If you don’t like rose you probably won’t like this cleanser because the scent is strong. For me that’s a plus, I love it. I am a sucker for rose scents so this is like HG status for me as far as oil cleansers go. By far, this is my top pick for oil cleansers personally. It’s one of those products that hits all the markers for me. So if you like rose, and want to make sure you’ve gotten rid of even your craziest makeup, this is for you.

Both of these cleansers used as a team has been so A+ for me. I have a feeling I’ll be sticking with these for along while. In fact, I’ve already gotten myself backups!

Five out of five turtles PLUS another one for being so gentle, effective, and putting the fun back into my cleansing routine!

These are available at Insider Beauty, which I highly recommend you shopping with, especially since Insider Beauty is having a 20/20 sale right now! 20% off the entire site and an additional 20% off all missha and re:cipe products. Code is: Thanksgiving

Prices are:

Re:cipe Slowganic Cleansers: $15.20

Re:cipe Rose Cleansing Oil: $12.80

Missha First Treatment Essence: $31.20 (enter a time warp and read one of my earliest reviews about Missha FTE here!)

It’s also available at Memebox here for the slowganic cleanser and here for the rose cleansing oil!

MISSHA M CREAM TENSION PACT REVIEW

October 30, 2015 / The Beauty Wolf

You’ve got a drawer full of bb creams, you’ve got a little army of bb cushions, you might even have the odd metal cushion freedom fighter running around your makeup stash, but do you have a tension pact?

The Missha M Cream Tension Pact was something that immediately caught my eye while perusing one of my favourite shops, W2Beauty. I might have a slew of holy grails already, but for your sakes and mine, I am always on the hunt for the newest, best, and brightest products out there. Besides, you can never have too many paths to perfection!

What’s the difference between this Tension Pact and a traditional bb cushion? Unlike the BB cushions spongey centre, the Tension Pact has a fine, flexible, mesh screen; called a “Tension Net” in the middle of the pact.
You simply dab your silicone pad onto the tension net, get the appropriate amount of product, and then pat it onto your skin like you do with any bb cushion. However, because the tension net is so finely woven, the product applies more evenly and naturally than with a sponge. You can see the fine mesh pattern here in the sponge with one quick dab:

Here it is unblended, stamped on the back of my hand, as you can see the mesh pattern transfers (but it blends out, don’t worry)

It’s a really fun delivery system and I’m a fan! I would love to see more tension products!

The pact itself is the same size as other Missha cushions, but it has a gold metallic hinged lid, so it’s a touch fancier in packaging than the M cushion. And while I don’t see any refills online at this time, the pact looks as if it could be reused with other Missha cushions.

This product sadly only comes in three shades, as is the case with most Korean complexion products, and the shades offered are very limited. I’ve got a warmer skintone and am a 25 in Mac products so I chose shade #3 Glow Beige, which is not as dark as shade #2 Natural Beige and is much warmer then the cool toned shade #1 Pink Beige. If you regularly use Missha complexion products, they offer this information about shade selection.

#1.Pink Beige If you used no.13 or bright no.21, you can this. #2.Natural Beige If you used dark no.21 or no.23, you can this. #3.Glow Beige If you used no.21 or middle-tone of no.23, you can this.

Now the most important part, formulation. This cream itself is, great! It’s formulated with “silk amino acids to help retain skin’s elasticity” and contains “a formula that contains 50% moisturizing ingredients” Those ingredients include xylitol and hyaluronic acid. This is actually a very smart combination because xylitol can be used as a humectant. It’s also said to help the skin retain its natural moisture and boost it’s own levels of hyaluronic acid, a natural lubricant that assists in collagen production. Xylitol is also thought to improve the skin’s barrier function and increase ceramide (a natural hydrating compound) synthesis. So you hit that with the additional hyaluronic acid in the formula and it’s aces, and it sure does work nicely. The ingredients to the pact are listed here on Cosdna, it’s a very interesting formula, with no irritants or acne triggers, I’m pretty impressed http://www.cosdna.com/eng/cosmetic_fbf5200670.html

My skin is going through a particularly dry spell right now with the season change, and this pact is a nice soothing addition to my makeup routine. However, I would say as long as your skin isn’t crazy oily, you could use this product with ease. Normal to slightly oily skins could still enjoy this in the dry fall and winter seasons. The coverage is also nice, like I mentioned before it applies very evenly and does a great job evening out skintone and covering minor blemishes. It dries to a nice semi-matte finish but with a hint of glow.

All in all I am a big fan of this product and highly recommend it should you fall into the very narrow shade range.
A very easy 5 out of 5 turtles with this fun pact with great ingredients

I have thus far only seen this product on w2Beauty, where it’s listed for the reasonable price of $19.84
http://w2beauty.com/en/missha-face-makeup/19462-missha-m-cream-tension-pact-spf37-pa-3-tones.html
I have always loved w2Beauty because of their free shipping, generous samples, and excellent customer service! And as always you can receive $5 off your first purchase by signing up for an account through my sponsor link http://w2beauty.com/?s=071087605 and entering code 071087605 at sign up!

CHOSUNGAH 22 DONG GONG MINN JELLO COLOR EYESHADOW PALETTE REVIEW

October 23, 2015 / The Beauty Wolf

With Korean Beauty getting more and more mainstream, we’re starting to get an influx of products easily available for purchase here in North America. (I for one welcome our K-Beauty overlords 😉 ) With places like Target, Forever 21, Urban Outfitters, and even the bastion of all things beauty, Sephora carrying K-Beauty products, I’m delighted with the direction I see this going in.

Speaking of Sephora, I have been so pleased to see them promoting K-Beauty in stores and in their mailings. If you walk into any Sephora right now you’ll see beautiful signage and displays showcasing different Korean beauty products. It’s everything I hoped for when I first got into this world. Seeing it so easily accessible at such a major influential retailer is thrilling!
Out of the many brands they’re now carrying, I noticed the addition of a few products from the Chosungah 22 brand, one of which is the Dong Gong Minn Jello Color Kit. When I saw this online I ordered it right away, Korean skincare is my bread and butter, but Korean cosmetics is where my heart really lies.

With it’s cute pop-art style packaging, this product is a real eye catcher. The casing itself is a nice size, about the size of a large pencil case with a similar type hinge and feel.

This palette of eyeshadows features six standard sized colours (each shade about the size of a Mac eyeshadow). The colours are warm toned and neutral with some very en trend dusky shades that are just perfect for Fall and adding a little warmth to your Winter. They have cute space names, here is Pluto and Venus, the lightest highlighter type shades:

Jupiter and Mars, which are my favourite shades

Mercury and Blackhole, which are great bold darks perfect for smoking the hell out of your eyes

What makes this stand out from other palettes, aside from the packaging, is the very unique formulation. These are not traditional powdered shadows, and while they are somewhat creamy, they are not a cream shadow either. Confused? Well, if you’ve ever tried Colour Pop eyeshadows these are very similar! They are an almost spongy, soft, creamy type shadow. If you press down into the shadow, they will depress, and they’re almost bouncy in texture. The closest I can get to trying to explain the texture is cream-ish to powder, but then again not really. Despite me not finding the words to describe these properly, rest assured, they are really fun to use.

The colours swatch true, if a little sheer, but that is kind of the point of this palette.

I really like the colour choices they’ve included in this palette. They’re neutral but not boring, and can be used for any time of the day. The wear time is great, but be aware I do not have oily eyelids so most eye products wear well on me.

If you’re wondering just how you’re supposed to work with this non-traditional eyeshadow texture, I have some suggestions. While you can use a synthetic brush to blend (and I do) the best way to pack on colour with these things is the pat them directly onto your lids with your finger. You can build coverage that way and it allows you a lot of freedom to play around. You can get a lovely sheer wash of colour for a simple daytime smokey look, or go more dramatic for the evening by building up to a dramatic opaque look by patting on a heavy coating. Because of the unique formulation, there is no fallout to speak of, so be as heavy handed with the colour as you’d like!

I’ve done some really fun eye looks with this palette and I’ve taken to adding in some of the Peripera Jewel Pots that I love so much into the mix for really dramatic nighttime eyes! Since both are finger friendly products, it’s like a glamorous grownup finger painting session when you get these two together. Who says you can’t have fun with your makeup?

This palette is a real pleasure, a lot of fun, easy available at Sephora in both the US and Canada, and is a good value. What’s not to love?

Five out of five little jelly turtles.

BLOSSOM JEJU PINK CAMELLIA SOOMBI BLOOMING CREAM & ESSENCE SERUM REVIEW

August 21, 2015 / The Beauty Wolf

There are some creams that feel like an indulgence. They feel like you’re doing something for your skin that’s almost sinful it feels so luxurious. Sulwhasoo is one of those creams, as is It’s Skin Prestige Creme Ginseng D’escargo, I’ve also discovered another cream to join their lofty ranks, Blossom Jeju Pink Camellia Soombi Blooming Cream, a recently curated treasure at Glow Recipe.

The ingredient list is the first hint as to why this cream is a top spot earner for me

Camellia Japonica Flower Extract(54.72%), Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Water, Glycerin, Camellia Japonica seed oil(5.41%), Pentylene Glycol(EcoCert®, Natural Origin), Niacinamide, Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Oil, Phosphatidylcholine, Phytosteryl Macadamiate, Propanediol(EcoCert®, Natural Origin), Butyrospermum Parkii (shea) Butter, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Xanthan Gum, Akebia Quinata Extract, Panthenol, Tocopherol, Arginine, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Caprylyl Glycol, Squalane, Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Centella Asiatica Extract, Betaine, Bisabolol, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil, Trehalose, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Bioflavonoids, Brassica Oleracea Italica (Broccoli) Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Adenosine, Opuntia Ficus-Indica fruit Extract, Polygonum Cuspidatum Root Extract, Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract, Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate, Sorbitan Caprylate, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Linoleic Acid, Hizikia Fusiforme Extract, Hyaluronic Acid, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Leaf Extract, Citrus Unshiu Peel Extract, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Skin Extract, Yeast Beta-Glucan, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Seed Extract, Pueraria Lobata Root Extract, Pyrus Malus (Apple) Fruit Extract, Silybum Marianum Extract, Vaccinium Angustifolium (Blueberry) Fruit Extract, Levulinic Acid, Rutin, Astaxanthin, Quercetin, Fragrance

Notably the first ingredient is Camellia Japonica Flower Extract, which you can read more about herehttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3127137/ ,it’s followed closely three ingredients later by Camellia Japonica Seed Oil. Both of these ingredients help to give this cream lots of luxurious cushiness.

It’s absolutely packed with a lot of really nice emollients and antioxidants and has hardly any acne triggers, (if that’s important to you, check out how it’s rated on COSDNA here http://www.cosdna.com/eng/cosmetic_1a15200157.html ).

Another thing that really amps up the luxuriousness of this product is the smell. Ohhhhhhh my god, the smell. Excuse the overly flowery language, but it brings to mind my childhood summers in the south spent hovering around honeysuckle bushes, plucking their blooms and drinking their nectar. It’s just really a thing of beauty. If you can get an old-pro consumer like me excited about a smell, bruuh, you’re doing something right.

Even the jar is wonderful. It’s a heavy, sturdily manufactured opaque glass jar with a rose gold/pink screw top. It looks so pretty on my dressing table (shallow, but like I said with the It’s Skin cream, something a highly visual person like myself appreciates).

Of course all of those things don’t mean squat if the cream doesn’t function well. Thankfully this stuff performs like a true champ. My skin was very, very happy using this cream. It was plump, hydrated, and always glowing. This is a wonderful cream to seal in the moisture you’ve pumped into your skin during your K-beauty skincare routine. It has that whipped, buttery consistency, like you find in the the Sulwhasoo and It’s Skin Prestige Creme Ginseng D’escargo creams. That is always something I look for in a luxury cream. I love massaging this into my face, especially at night since the scent is such a nice thing to smell before bed. It’s also great as a day cream, especially for those of you going for a more matte look, as this doesn’t have the same kind of sheen that’s present in the It’s Skin and Sulwhasso creams, but still gives you all of the great hydration!

With it’s gorgeous smell, feel, and most importantly, performance, I can’t recommend this highly enough if you’re looking for a moderately priced luxurious topping to both moisturized and seal in moisture, give this pretty little thing a try!

There’s also the essence serum in the same line that I’m loving.
From the Glow Recipe website

“This delicate essence is so unique in that it feels light as air upon contact with your skin providing an instant dose of noticeable moisture. Formulated with 82% Oleic Acid, also found within our own skin, Camellia Oil is absorbed almost immediately upon contact with the surface of skin, leaving behind no greasy residue or feel, making this dose of hydration and protection feel as natural as your own skin”

I can confirm this stuff does indeed absorb quickly, which is nice when you’re sleepy and don’t want to massage forever to make sure your serum is absorbed before hitting your next step. It also feels incredibly light yet skin plumping. Both me, and my oily skinned husband have been enjoying/fighting over this serum! In fact, he’s asked me to go ahead and order another bottle for him. This serum has ZERO acne triggers, and it packed full of moisturizing ingredients, emollients, and even has some ingredients with anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties (see here http://cosdna.com/eng/cosmetic_1443195767.html).

I would definitely give this essence serum and the cream five out of five turtles, it compliments the cream so incredibly well, they’re a fine, fine duo! This would make a great indulgence for yourself or a wonderful gift for someone special. It would work for just about any skin type and the fragrance is like a trip to paradise.

Available at Glow Recipe here:
http://www.glowrecipe.com/collections/blossom-jeju/blossom-jeju
Good news, Glow Recipe has offered to give you 15% off your order if you order through my link http://i.refs.cc/Mxk05ta7 ! Get in on this great stuff with this great deal and check out Blossom Jeju’s other products! I especially like the Camellia dry oil, it works great on your face and in your hair!

HERA UV MIST CUSHION ULTRA MOISTURE REVIEW

August 14, 2015 / The Beauty Wolf

I have a new favourite cushion for people looking for a little more glow and moisture. I still love my Iope cushion for it’s moderate glow and light coverage, my Missha cushion for the semi-matte look, and now I have my a newly crowned Queen of the moisture and glow, the Hera UV Mist Cushion Ultra Moisture.

I had previously tried the Hera UV Mist Cushion but found that it just wasn’t moist enough for me. It was good, really good, but not a favourite. I still preferred my Iope cushion for the moisturizing role it played. I really love the feel of moisture in my face products, I find they plump up your skin and give it a really youthful appearance. When I saw that there was an Ultra Moisture version I really wanted to give it a try. I’m very partial to my Hera CC cream, which is my favourite CC cream on the market right now, so I knew Hera was capable of making a great cushion product and I hoped this was it.

Since I’m writing about it now I’m sure you can deduce that this was everything I was hoping it would be. The description from the InsiderBeauty website, which is where I got this from, describes things very well:

http://insiderbeauty.com/collections/makeup/products/uv-mist-cushion-ultra-moisture

HERA’s innovative ‘UV Mist Cushion Ultra Moisture’ has all the benefits of its predecessor ‘UV Mist Cushion’ but only better. With its ground-breaking ability to glide liquid foundation onto skin like a mist in the convenience of a puff, this unique cushion compact has a huge cult following in South Korea for its ability to give you natural, buildable coverage with a radiant, dewy finish. This formula offers ample hydration with broad spectrum SPF 34 and PA++ sunscreen.

Provides 4.2x more enhanced moisture than its predecessor ‘UV Mist Cushion’
Effective for all skin types
Long-lasting moisture and glow
Includes Camellia Oil and Achillea extracts known for its antioxidants and skin protection
Includes a full-sized refill cushion

We carry this product in 3 shades:

Cool Ivory #13 – Suitable for those with pale to light skin tones
Cool Vanilla #21 – Suitable for those with light to medium skin tones
Cool Beige #23 – Suitable for those with medium beige skin tones

It’s summer here so I went with the #23, which was perfect. The finish truly is radiant and dewy and my skin just feels so insanely cushy once the BB cream is patted on. It’s an instant wake-up looking skin and dull complexions. It also has really nice coverage. To illustrate that, I’ve swatched it here on the back of my hand with all of it’s gross green veins, as you can see the cushion all but covered them and left my skin looking dewy and even.

This really proved the “you can fake it till you make it” mantra I’ve been telling people in the media about Korean cosmetics.If you already have the original Hera cushion, here they both are used next to each other. On the left we have the Hera UV Mist Cushion and on the right the Her UV Mist Cushion Ultra Moisture, as you can see there is a marked difference in finish but the same great coverage.

In addition to how lovely the actual product is, it’s housed in a beautiful, sturdy, iridescent ,grey pealescent compact. It’s very well constructed and heavy, like most luxury brands are. The price point is roughly double a lot of other cushions, however keep in mind you’re actually getting TWO compacts at this price, so the actual price is on par with cheaper cushions. So for $45 each box comes with an already filled new compact, and a refill that you pop into the compact once the initial one is depleted and discarded, so it’s a sound buy. I truly love this compact, and I think I’m going to especially relish it this winter when my skin is crying from the -45c temperatures. This is a must try cushion if you love luxurious formulations, buildable coverage, and moisture in your BBs!

Five out of five turtles plus one more for being a holy grail!
+
I got my Hera UV Mist Cushion Ultra Moisture from InsiderBeauty here, which is where I recommend picking it up! They are truly wonderful to shop with.

It’s also available on ebay here

and Amazon here with Prime shipping

RE:CIPE ROSE PETAL CLEANSING OIL & GREEN TEA SLOWGANIC CLEANSER REVIEW

MISSHA M CREAM TENSION PACT REVIEW

CHOSUNGAH 22 DONG GONG MINN JELLO COLOR EYESHADOW PALETTE REVIEW

BLOSSOM JEJU PINK CAMELLIA SOOMBI BLOOMING CREAM & ESSENCE SERUM REVIEW

HERA UV MIST CUSHION ULTRA MOISTURE REVIEW

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