Dr. Andrew Weil for Origins Conditioning Lip Balm with Tumeric review

Origins x Dr Andrew Weil has a range of products releases steadily since around 2010. I'm not familiar with Dr Weil but do love a few of Origins items.

The Conditioning Lip balm is in a 4g roll up tube, not like a normal chapstick. There's a 'dial' on the bottom you use to twist it up.

It's not a round tube either but sort of oval like. Very simplistic packaging.

Here it is in the tube- doesn't look very pretty at all. It's a yellow lipbalm with a moderate firmness, which makes is really rather 'balmy' but I don't have trouble applying it (not as hard as carmex in the tub).  It's got a light lemon scent which is sort of nice, and not at all irritating.

Swatch on the skin- it leaves a light shine, not ultra shiny type of lipbalm, but it does provide a coat to the lip with 1 or 2 swipes easily.

Rest of the ingredient list, seems the main base is beeswax/ various seed oils and cocoa butter.

I have quite sensitive lips and find this rather non irritating. However it will not cure any active irritation like severely chapped lips. I'm on the fence about whether I'd repurchase- given the RRP is around 15USD which is on the very steep side.

For the texture, product itself alone without considering the price, I would give this 4.5/5. However for 15USD this probably is a 4/5 for me. I still prefer my Yuskin lip cream.

OPI A Rose At Dawn Broke By Noon V11 + Design Series DS Perfection Nail Lacquer review/ swatch

OPI "A Rose At Dawn Broke by Noon" (color code V11) was from OPI Las Vegas collection.

The color is a gleaming brightened rose pink, it has a gleam sheen to it, not quite shimmery or frosty but just that glow.

I haven't taken a photo of the shade on its own because I got so bored of it after 1 coat. It honestly looks just like the color in the bottle I'm holding, a plain old average slightly tacky looking pink. Then I decided to salvage the poor nail color choice by adding another color top coat- wow the amazing thing is the finished look was SO pretty and this was a total accident.

Below are all pictures with 1 coat A rose at Dawn, Broke by Noon then topped with 2 coats of OPI DS Perfectoin.

Look how amazing it looks under sun light- I'm still holding A Rose at Dawn Broke by noon in my hand.

Below I'm holding the DS Perfection shade.

This is by far the favorite nail combination I've found lately. DS Perfection is a darked fuschia pink with a desnse shimmer and a slightly chrome effect (as can be seen from the bottle- it's reflecting a gold/bronze glow).

The finished look is this very pretty shimmering foiled rose, not too light and not too dark.

Overall 2/5 for A Rose at Dawn, Broke by Noon, and 5/5 for the DS Perfection shade, which is such a pretty top coat. (Having another opaque color underneath DS Perfection will richen the look of it, and take away any too much metallicness).

Beaute de Kose Esprique Precious Fit Up Concealer #40 Light-Beige review/swatch

Beaute de Kose Esprique Precious line is the mid price ranged line from the Kose group. Most items are under 40USD.

This is the "Fit up Concealer" in the lightest shade #40, Light-Beige. It's in a squeeze pink tube packaging, with a small nozzle, which makes it easy to control the amount.

 

On the very left is how it would look like under the eye and blended in. It's a very pigmented concealer, and dries quickly. I usually just pat it under eye with my finger tips.  As you can see it definitely has a strong yellow tone, which is too yellow for my face but ok for undereye.

However I find it a bit too drying and the opacity means it can look ashy under eye and a bit unnatural looking.

It has the added bonus of SPF25/ PA++. Contains 15g.

Overall 2/5. Unfortunately I find the majority of the Kose foundation lines to be very yellow, when I purchase something called light beige I really don't expect it to have this much yellow tone to it. The formula is also a bit drying and the pigment could be finer to make it look more natural on the skin.

Bobbi Brown Cream Blush Stick #1 Pale Pink review/ swatch

Bobbi Brown Cream Blush Stick is in a metal black tube like the foundation sticks, however it contains 4.3g of product (and foundation stick contains 9.5g.

Top is the foundation stick and bottom is blush stick:

Here's #1 Pale Pink- Interestingly I have pale pink in the powder form and they are NOTHING alike. The pale pink powder blush from Bobbi Brown is a hot baby doll pink, while the pale pink in cream blush stick is a peachy pink.

Here's how it looks when swiped straight onto the skin. On left it's on top of the Bobbi Brown foundation in #02 sand, on right it's on clean skin. You can see it doesn't change much color even when applied on top of foundation.

 Here it is blended out, on clean skin on the very left blended very sheerly, on the very right a bit heavier. In the middle it's blended on top of foundation in #02 sand again. The color when applied on my skin is honestly just a peachy pink, no other fancy way to describe it. It has more pink than peach.

 Overall 4/5. The color is very pretty. The stick blush is of high quality for a cream blush, and it blends out really easily on the cheek without looking blotchy.

It is now discontinued and replaced by the pot rouges and sheer color cheek tints.

Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick Sand 02 review/ swatch

Bobbi Brown foundation stick is a 9.5g twist up stick foundation in a metal tube in the Bobbi Brown signature black packaging. It does attract fingerprint and get scratched pretty easily in the makeup bag.

The product retails for 41USD which is rather steep for 9.5 grams. However as with most stick type of base makeup products they tend to be thicker in texture and a bit stretches a long way.

I'm using shade #02 Sand, which is the 4th lightest color it seems (lightest is 00 Alabaster, 0 Porcelain, 1 Warm Ivory then 02 sand). However on the Bobbi Brown website the swatch seems like #02 sand is lighter than warm ivory?

I do think #02 sand is reasonably light enough. I generally wear the lightest color or 2nd lightest shade from most foundation brands and this would be about equivalent shade compared to other brands.

I got this a while ago, the packaging has changed since, it will no longer say 'essentials' I think.

It is same size as the cream blush stick which I find quite odd. Either the blush contains too much quantity or this contains too little? =P

Here it is- #02 sand is a lightly yellow based tone. Suitable for Asian pale skin tones.

With flash:

With indoor light and no flash:

Here it is on the skin with 1 swipe- you can see how creamy it is- but it's not entirely buttery smooth

Spreaded out- yes it blends right into my skin

Overall the coverage is medium buildable. However I think the biggest problem is the consistency- while it's creamy and soft and spreadable, it slips and slides off the skin very quickly, especially used over face as a foundation. I don't even have oily skin anymore, in fact on most days my skin is on slightly dry side.

It works OK as an undereye concealer, but by no means comparable to my Cle de peau stick concealer. Which leaves this foundation of little use other than portability for touchups (and you can use fingers instead of sponges). It also looks a bit ashy as an undereye concealer, despite being a good color match, like the color sort of sit on top of my dark circles instead of blending into it and diffusing the circle.

It also seems to melt off whatever other makeup I apply on top of this (e.g. pressed powder to set) and after 4 hrs I get really patchy looking foundation face.

Overall 2/5. You are better off buying a good quality stick concealer, or use other proper foundations.

Probably would suit someone with dry skin in good condition with not too much blemishes to cover, then you can just spot dot this and blend quickly and set with powder for a literally 3 minute makeup base. That being said how many of us are blessed with that lucky skin.

OPI Princesses Rule! R44 Nail Polish swatch/ review

OPI Princesses Rule! (code R44) is a sparkly pale pink, the sparkle has a sort of silvery or white base to it, so it brings the color to seem even paler.

It's sparkly and shimmery (as opposed to a straight shimmer finish or frosty look), but it is not dense enough to become a foil finish.

Overall I found this pretty, but a bit too sheer. It makes a fool proof girly mani though.

Overall 4/5.  I'm wearing 2 coats as usual.

China Glaze #157 Sex on the Beach Nail Polish review/ swatch

China Glaze Sex on the Beach (code #157) is a mid tone mauvey-pink shimmery foil. It's a very fine shimmery finish which is probably more foil than metallic.  It's definitely a midtone color, not dark, not light.

Will require about 2 coats to get the complete foil like look. I'm wearing 2 coats below.

Personally I LOVE foil finishes, as long as they are subtle and glimmering and pretty, but not super metallic or frosty in appearance. 

I wish China Glaze (and other nail brands) would release a lot more polishes in this finish in different colors. Unfortunately it just seems most foil finishes only happen in mid-tone shades.



 

Overall 4/5. The only thing I can fault about China Glaze and particularly, this color, is the polish consistency seems a bit 'thin' and not as luscious as OPI or Essie. So when you have mid-tone shades without applying carefully to avoid streaks or uneven finish, the shades can sometimes look a bit cheap. I also found this shade to be not all that 'shiny', it needs a topcoat to make the glossy polished look.

La Roche Posay Effaclar Purifying Foaming Gel For Oily Sensitive Skin review

I really liked the La Roche Posay anthiolos SPF50 sunscreen, and thought I would try a few other skincare items from the same line. Here's the Purifying Foaming Gel cleanser for oily sensitive skin. Meant to be soap free and pH 5.5 and perfect for those with sensitive skin.

It contains 125ml, in a soft plastic squeeze tube with flip top cap. Instruction for use says apply some gel on palm, lather then massage on face, then rinse thoroughly.

It's a clear gel cleanser, slightly runny sort of feeling, but it is more a gel than liquid.

It's not a massively foaming cleanser, you get loose foam like this.

After:

Overall thought? I wish I hadn't purchased this. It performs very average as far as a gel foaming cleanser goes. It has a light foam, easy to rinse off, and doesn't leave skin dry and taught. (But it's not like your skin will feel supple and plump and hydrated either, no miracle here).

However, it is the scent which really irritates me. It has a perculiar chemical sort of scent, not to go so far and say it smells like drain cleaner, but it does smell like some sort of detergent in a not so pleasant way.

I've used a few cosmeceutical brands which usually comes with less floral scents and more 'clinical' smell to it and never found them to be too irritating. However I just cannot like this scent at all!

Struggling to finish this off still, but definitely will not repurchase. Performance is very average and nothing to rave on about, but the scent! Definitely at least try smelling this before you purchase.

This was not all that cheap either (compared to many other Japanese drugstore brands which would have superior face wash), I think it retails around $1xx HKD, so roughly 15-20USD if you purchase in Asia.

Overall rating 3/5 for performance and 1/5 for overall.

UNT Nail Lacquer LJ040 "Tipsy" polish Swatch/review

UNT is a made in Taiwan brand, that's made a big hit in Taiwan for the past year or so. It's totted to be as good as OPI in color and finishes. Out of curiosity (and reading many other Taiwanese blog reviews and swatches), I've decided to order a few.

I tried on LJ040 "Tipsy" on the weekend:

They are also sold on amazon.com , around 7 or 8USD (yep priced right up there with OPI too).

Personally I think they'd do a lot better if the prices were lowered to about 5USD. On various Taiwan auction sites that's probably how much it goes for.

They are 15ml, same bottle design as OPI, the brushes are not like OPI pro-wide, but a bit like the older OPI brushes, I find them easy to use.


Here's what UNT says about their polishes on Amazon:

Product Features



Color: Tipsy (LJ040)


Nail polish to deliver smooth and uniform finish with high-gloss shine!

Includes vitamin F to fortify and repair nails


Excludes harmful formaldehyde and phthalate esters.


Pregnancy-safe!


Free shipping worldwide.

LJ040 Tipsy is a very intricate color- it looks like a light grey-taupe in the bottle, on the nails with 2 coats it looks like a pale to mid-tone lilac with a hint of grey, it's got enough grey to look like a light taupe (some compare it to to OPI France collection Ticky my Francey), I dont have that OPI personally but based on online swatches the OPI shade seems a bit more coffee nude (some grey but not as grey as Tipsy or as much Lilac).

Tipsy also has some very faint shimmers which makes it from a potentially "eww" grey color to a very feminine, soft pastel with a twist.

 Daylight:

Yellow lights:

 

Overall 5 out of 5.  I like how interesting this color is and it's refreshing compared to ordinary pinks and pales.

Interesting I dont think guys generally like any colors on girls besides the traditinoal pastels or pinks or reds, my girlfriends love this shade, while most guys just go ummm odd grey.