Category: Too Cool For School

KOREAN BEAUTY SECRETS: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO CUTTING-EDGE SKINCARE AND MAKEUP

June 29, 2015 / The Beauty Wolf

It’s officially official, we wrote a book! Like an actual one, that you can hold, and buy, and that would look so incredibly cute on your coffee table.

I’m going to take the words from my co-author and soul sister Kerry (Skin & Tonics), and let her give you her take on it before I put in my two cents 😀

“We set out to create a book that would be useful, interesting, and fun for complete newcomers to K-beauty as well as the more experienced, and I wholeheartedly believe we accomplished that task. It has everything you need to know to assemble a Korean style skincare routine, including :
• Detailed information on each skincare product categories
• How to assess and address your skincare needs
• Tips for determining layering order
• Shopping and ingredient cheat sheets organized by skin concern
• Ingredient definitions
• Detailed example skincare routines by several of our favorite bloggers
• Nearly 250 English-Korean ingredient translationsIt also features:• An amazingly thorough makeup section that provides detailed descriptions of all the different makeup categories
• Guides to achieving some truly beautiful Korean-inspired makeup looks.
• A lot of gorgeous photography

One area where Coco and I were particularly fortunate is that we were given full control over the book’s content and design. Being given design control is not typical in the traditional publishing industry, so this was a really big deal for us! Coco art directed the photoshoots, and I handled the layout and information design. We both developed the cover design. The finished product is a beautiful, glossy, full-color, hardcover. If you don’t want to wait for November to order it, you canpre-order it on Amazon and receive it the day it’s released (November 3, 2015).”

I’m so excited to introduce you guys to this book. It’s coming out in Nov, but like Kerry said above, it’s available on Amazon right now for preorder, which you can also access via the link on the sidebar of the homepage. I’m so proud of everything and I’d like to give a special shoutout to the stellar team we put together to bring you this baby. Truly, it was a labor of love, and I think you might love it just as much as we do.And like I said, it’s going to set your coffee table off so very nice 😉

TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL DINOPLATZ CINEMA CITY MULTI CC REVIEW

June 9, 2014 / The Beauty Wolf

Too Cool For School roars into the CC cream game with their Dinoplatz Cinema City Multi CC. The multi in the name refers to several things in the claims, but most notably a multifunction cosmetic product included in the lid of the packaging. This is one of my favourite things about Too Cool For School, in addition to their amazingly cute and creative packaging, they’re always so innovative with their all in one products. I’ve raved about their products before, I especially loved their After School BB Foundation Lunchbox and this seemed like it would be a great complimentary product to that.

Back to the multifunction part of this product, although the CC cream itself is only available in one shade, you get the choice of either a cheek/lip, highlighter, or a concealer ball that detaches from the cap. I chose the cheek product since I already had the concealer and highlighter included in my foundation lunchbox. The shade is a red coral-ish shade and it’s a great compliment to the orange and bronze shades that are so hot this summer. It’s a lot more subtle than you might expect so don’t let the bright red looking ball intimidate you. The little ball is creamy and blends very easily. I have not been able to try this as a lip product because I’m still recovering from the bad reaction I mentioned in my last review 🙁 Sorry Beauty Pups 🙁 But the shade itself would make for a really cute lip colour and I look forward to trying it out as one.

This CC cream is very watery compared to all of the others I’ve tried. It’s not grey or pink, nor is it one of the white colour adjusting beads kinds. It comes out a peachy beige colour so if you’re not within the restrictive as hell shade range you’re screwed. I’m normally an NC15/20 but I do get tanned pretty easily thanks to a mixed heritage so I’m currently sporting about an NC25 right now and this was a little too light for me. I think they made it this way on purpose, as this claims to be “whitening” which usually just means “brightening” in Korean cosmetics. Personally I’m not a fan of it and don’t need it but if brightening is your thing this is definitely for you. For a CC cream this went on surprisingly matte, another thing I’m not personally a fan of. My skin is on the dry side and I’m a big fan of the ultra dewy look. The grass is always greener, ect. Again, that is just a personal thing so I can’t deduct any marks for this being more matte. The finish is going to be a big plus for the oily skinned folks out there I think, especially in the heat of the summer, as it’s extremely light and airy. If you hate the feeling of being suffocated by heavy product you’re going to like this one. The coverage is extremely sheer, only the best of skins are going to want to wear this alone. It does however lay down a good foundation for your other products and tone correct slightly (and “brighten” like crazy). I’m really sorry I don’t have any pictures of this on my face, once again I’m still recovering from lupus related BS so all of the pictures I tried to take were horror shows. I do however have these swatches on the back of my hand that give you an idea of how this performs. What you see on the hand is pretty much exactly what you get on the face. Here it is just out of the tube on the left, and then blended on the right (as well as a blush swatch).

With an SPF of just 30 PA++ I would not recommend using this in place of your regular sunscreen like their ad copy suggests. This also claims to stop moisture loss and put up a moisture barrier once applied, that might be true for a different skin type but that wasn’t really the case with my dry skin. I really think this is best suited for an oily skin looking for a brightening effect, I think it would be especially nice when used in conjunction with the Pudding Aqua Shaking BB Cream if you’re going to the perfect matte face. Drier skins, especially those with flakes as this really highlighted mine, should search for other options. Too Cool For School Dinoplatz Cinema City Multi CC cream gets 3 out of 5 turtles, I really like the little multifunction cap at the end (and love the packaging!) but this just did not work for my skin type.

EDIT: NOW AVAILABLE AT SEPHORA!
http://www.sephora.com/dinoplatz-cinema-city-cc-cheek-blusher-P399209?skuId=1733385

Available on ebay here
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TOO-COOL-FOR-SCHOOL-Dinoplatz-Cinema-City-30ml-/400855519594?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item5d54d9d16a

TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL PUDDING AQUA SHAKING BB REVIEW

March 18, 2014 / The Beauty Wolf

I’m back with one more Too Cool For School review!
Since my last review was Too Cool For School After School Foundation Lunchbox, I say we cap off these reviews with some dessert. Pudding to be exact. Today we’re looking at the Pudding Aqua Shaking BB Cream SPF 40. I had a theory about this product that I wanted to test out so I picked one up to see if I was correct. I’ll get to that later.

At this point do I even need to mention the adorable packaging? Actually, I don’t care, I’m going to anyway. Adorable. Packaging.

Another thing I’d like to praise is the inclusion of a really awesome beauty blender in the package! They refer to it as a Marshmallow Puff, but it’s really just a white dupe of a beauty blender. It’s soft and when it’s damp it applies this stuff like a champ. I even used it for my other Too Cool For School foundation. They were also thoughtful enough to include a spatula for this BB cream since it’s in a jar. They’ve really thought of everything here and I really love Too Cool For School’s attention to detail and foresight in regards to their products.

This product comes in only two shades (C’mon Korean companies, get it together.) I went with the lightest shade this time, #1 ,which it says is “suitable for people with bright skin tone, it makes you skin look brilliant and vitalized”. Shade #2, according to the description, is a beige tone that’s geared toward neutralizing redness. I do have to admit, shade #1 did actually add some brightening to my NC20 skin. I think pale people would appreciate this colour. It’s light and bright without being pink.
The formula claims to be 70% moisture but this is not dewy at all. This is a matte finish. I appreciate that it manages to be matte without being dull. That’s not always an easy feat. Also, while this claims to be moisturizing, it does still cling to dry patches and flakes, as is the case with almost all mattes. Make sure you have exfoliated and are starting off with as smooth of canvas as possible. I think that oily skinned folks will like this formulation as well since it sits very cleanly on the face and does not cause any additional oil build up. Also, big ups to the addition of the SPF 40, high SPFs always make me happy! The coverage is light to medium and below is an unedited closeup in bright sunlight.

The thing I wanted to test out with this BB is how it compared to Holka Holika Aqua Petit Jelly BB. My theory was that it would be the superior of the two. I found Aqua Petite Jelly to be absolute trash on my skin. It clung to every flake and sat chalky and sad on my face. While I don’t have my Aqua Petit Jelly anymore to do a direction comparison (I threw it out), I can say that yes, for me this is absolutely superior to Holika Holika’s Jelly BB. While this can still cling to dry skin, it’s not near as bad as the Jelly. I just feel like this is a much better formulated product. Another small thing I didn’t notice at first until I was directly in the sunlight looking with my magnifying mirror, this has the tiniest micro sparkles in it. I think that’s how they manage to pull off the brightness while being a matte.

All in all this is a nice product, and once again Too Cool For School impresses me. I’m not much of a matte face person, but on the rare days I want that look this will be my #1 choice! I’m impressed that they managed to formulate this in a way that both oily and non oily skins could comfortably use the product.
Available on ebay here
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TOO-COOL-FOR-SCHOOL-After-School-BB-Foundation-Lunch-Box-40ml-/400887101031?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=670430067711&hash=item5d56bbb667

I rate Too Cool For School Pudding Aqua Shaking BB 3.5 out of 5 turtles.

TO COOL FOR SCHOOL AFTER SCHOOL BB FOUNDATION LUNCH BOX REVIEW

March 14, 2014 / The Beauty Wolf

Today’s product is quite the mouthful, given that it’s called a “foundation lunchbox” I suppose that’s in keeping with the theme.
The After School BB Foundation Lunchbox is one of the cleverest products I’ve seen lately. The concept is it’s an all in one bento box of beauty for your face. You have your jar of bb cream with a screw top, but contained within the lid is a flip top revealing concealer and a highlighter.

I was afraid that with an all in one product like this that they would drop the ball somewhere. I went into this thinking “this looks really neat but I bet that concealer and highlighter are garbage”. I was so wrong!

too cool for school lunchbox bb foundation swatch

The BB is a lovely consistency. As you can see in the picture, it has a little built in paddle in the lid to scoop out product. I swiped it across my hand and applied it with a beauty blender, which worked really well. This only comes in two colours and each colour is a different formulation (I know, I don’t even understand). I went with #2 Moist Skin which is the darker of the two. I can’t imagine this working for anyone darker than NC25, but I can’t say for sure. This is a thick creamy BB but I wouldn’t say it’s particularly moisturizing on it’s own. It is nice though, and as a dry to normal skin I really like it. The concealer is also creamy, and works surprisingly well on my dark circles. Like I said, I didn’t have high hopes for this but it definitely exceeded by expectations and then some. The real surprise for me was the highlighter! It’s been well established that I’m a glow junkie, and this highlighter performed well enough to earn a “oh damn, NICE!” from me when I first put it on. It’s not crazy perfect or anything, but it certainly does everything I expect and demand out of my highlighters. This could be your perfect product for travel. Especially for things like weekend trips where you don’t want to transport a whole lot of makeup but you still want to be on point for your day to day. I love this little lunchbox! The packaging is adorable, it’s a good quality product, and the highlighter performs! All around win!
Available on ebay here
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TOO-COOL-FOR-SCHOOL-After-School-BB-Foundation-Lunch-Box-40ml-/400887101031?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item5d56bbb667

And amazon here
http://www.amazon.com/too-cool-school-Foundation-concealer/dp/B00JL8C12M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1433882050&sr=8-2&keywords=%5BTOO+COOL+FOR+SCHOOL%5D+After+School+BB+Foundation+Lunch+Box
I give Too Cool For School After School BB Foundation Lunchbox 5 out of 5 turtles.

TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL DINOPLATZ LIP BALM REVIEW

March 3, 2014 / The Beauty Wolf

Ok, I can’t even front, I’m in love with this little lip balm.
I absolutely love lip balms. They keep my mouth healthy and stop my lips from getting too dry, and some of them are even infused with cold sore medicine that can help to treat and prevent cold sores.
Too Cool For School is a brand that’s known firstly for it’s cute packaging, kind of like Etude House. But there’s a big difference between the two. If Etude House is for the princesses of the world than Too Cool For School is for the artsy cool kids. Etude House doesn’t kiss on the first date, Too Cool would ask you if you’d like a drink from their flask. Both are undeniably cool and cute, just on opposite ends of the spectrum.

I chose the shade Spilled Wine. This is also available in three other shades, Beet Jam, Rabbit Food, and Peach Melba. Right away I was taken with the packaging design. I love it. (Hello! Disembodied dinosaurs? Yes pls.) It comes in a match box-esque cardboard sleeve that reveals the awesome minimalist tin of lip balm inside.

The balm itself is a jelly type lip gloss that spreads easily with your finger. The colour reminds me of a much cooler, updated, and subtler version of Clinique’s Almost Lipstick in Black Honey. It’s a very sheer but still noticeable pop of wine on the lips. Speaking of wine, this is my new favourite lip choice for nights when I’m drinking actual red wine. Since you already know you’re probably going to get that annoying wine ring on your lips, might as well use this little wine gloss to camouflage it/play off of it.

The wear time is typical of light balm type glosses, which is to say not long at all. It’s great for dry lips as it has a jelly texture. Still, this won’t replace your non-cosmetic lip balm if you have ultra dry lips. All in all, like I said when I opened the review, I love this product. I put it directly in my purse’s makeup bag upon first try. That’s the equivalent of Johnny Carson inviting a comedian to sit down after a set. I almost never do that. A product has to really wow me to get that coveted purse spot.
As you can probably guess, I give Too Cool For School’s Dinoplatz Lip Balm in Spilled Wine 5 out of 5 tipsy turtles

EDIT:
Now available on SEPHORA!!!
http://www.sephora.com/dinoplatz-lip-balm-P399175?skuId=1733203

And available on ebay here
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Too-Cool-for-School-Dinoplatz-Lip-Balm-choose-1-color-/181462045424?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item2a3ffb12f0

KOREAN BEAUTY SECRETS: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO CUTTING-EDGE SKINCARE AND MAKEUP

TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL DINOPLATZ CINEMA CITY MULTI CC REVIEW

TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL PUDDING AQUA SHAKING BB REVIEW

TO COOL FOR SCHOOL AFTER SCHOOL BB FOUNDATION LUNCH BOX REVIEW

TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL DINOPLATZ LIP BALM REVIEW

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