Lancome Bi-Facil Non Oily Instant Cleanser Sensitive Eyes (eye makeup remover) review

Lancome Bi-Facil has been a staple Lancome skincare item for  long long time in the Lancome skincare line. In fact the packaging seems exactly as I remembered like 10 years ago. I've gone through several smaller gift with purchase bottles and always liked it.

I started wearing a really stubborn mascara (Helena Rubinstein ) which is not only water proof but probably almost cleansing oil resistant. (don't worry I don't think it's that a brilliant mascara so there's no use in trying to track that one down either).

I noticed that my normal cleansing oil was having trouble getting rid of all traces of the mascara, so I finally bought another bottle of specific eye makeup remover.

The Bi-Facil is a two-phased eye makeup remover. I've tried the cheaper Loreal and Maybelline counter parts in the 'two layer' sort of solution and none really beat this.

The top is a blue 'oil' feeling layer, the bottle is a more liquid like lighter blue layer. You shake it before use.

(FYI the regular retail size is 125ml and retails about 20-30USD depending on which country you purchased from).

Comes in a screw top bottle , it should be sealed internally with a sticker. After removing the sticker you can see a small hole opening which is fine for dispensing.

I saturate a bit on a cotton pad, and press it against eye makeup, wait for 10 seconds then wipe off, then just make sure you wipe both the top and bottom of your eyelashes to get every last trace off. I often also follow with a cotton bud saturated with the Bi-facil and make sure I also clean the lashline closely.

The best way to see if it works is by using whatever's in your makeup bag, so below there's a Lancome eyeliner and a Dejavu brown eyeliner and Visee eyeshadows and a random Lipstick (I think that was the Fancl one I reviewed before).

You can see it removes it completely with a simple swipe or two. even the shimmers come out really easily.

It does leave a slightly shiny feeling, I wouldn't say it's non-oily since it clearly leaves some residue behind due to it's duo texture. However I always follow with a face cleanser and any residue comes off so easily.

By far this is the most effective eye makeup remover I've tried over the years, if you  use a weak mascara or light eye makeup you probably don't need to use this at all, but if you have a waterproof mascara or eyeliner, this helps greatly.  While cheaper eye makeup removers I've used (Fasio etc), probably does the same job with a few more swipes, but the eye area is so delicate I'd rather minimise the number of times I have to put a cotton pad to my eyes.

I usually remove eye makeup using Bi-Facil, then use a cleansing oil  (Hada Labo one I reviewed recently) to remove rest of my face makeup, then hop in the shower and use a regular foaming cleanser (a range of anything lately). 

Overall rating 5/5.

Lancome French Absolue Rouge 308 Lily Rose review/ swatch

Lancome french absolue rouge were re-released in 2012. I'm not sure if this one is a full size or a mini size because it certainly looks very miniature to me!

I picked shade 308, I think the color name is lily rose.

Comes in a rather cute silver packaging with faceted surface. The base is gold.

#308 looks like a beige-peach-pink in tube. You can see the shimmers are really subtle and barely getting picked up by camera.

Close up:

A few different angles: 

Swatch:

It's actually a 'creamy' sort of lipstick and not really balmy like I expected. It applies with decent color payoff despite being a light shade. Once applied the beigy tone is not really there and you get a peachy-pink, more pale rose pink than peach though. It has a subtle shine but I would not call it like a glossy lipstick.

On lips I really like how it's just my lips but a shade lighter and more polished looking.

Lancome x Kate Winslet Golden Hat Foundation Le Vernis Nail Colour Polish 26 review/ swatch

This was the collaboration bewteen Kate Winslet's golden hat foundation and Lancome.

They come in same polish design as standard Lancome nail polishes, other than the box is different, you get a nice matte black box with golden hat foundation prints on them.

Comes in 3 shades, 26, 27, 28 , which are all limited edition to this collection.

In the bottle it looks like a medium muted rose pink shade, full creme and no shimmers or glitters or iridescence.

Here's a swatch with 2 coats + seche vite top coat. On the nails I thought it looked a tinge darker in real life, particularly compared to what the shade looked like in the bottle. I thought I was getting a medium pink rose, but what came out was really a muted berry rose, like a dusty berry rose. My photos are darker than the shade in real life.

A few more angles- see even in picture below I think it looks darker on my nails (about 1 shade darker) than the polish in the bottle.

It photographs quite well and glossy looking, in real life as the shade has a creme finish (it's not a starke strange creme finish but rather a soft, creamy and buildable full coverage creme finish especially with just two coats). It almost looks like it has a certain sheen in photos.

Overall I think 3.5 out of 5 for this shade. It's a lovely shade and really understated, but it's in that 'dusty/ muted' berry rose family where some people will find it meh when they actually wear the shade. I wore this to a wedding yesterday and after I put it on I was a bit worried I was a bit surprised since I didn't think it would've gone with my dress (which is a lighter nude pink chiffon).  However this shade just kind of blends in- I didn't get any compliments on the day (usually my friends would notice my nails and comment on how they love particular colors), but this is one of those shades which you wear and just isn't a "stand-out" shade.

I can't think of dupes in OPI or Essie or anything else I have on hand, it's in the 'dusty/muted' shade category like OPI Nuntucket mist (but not the same shade and this #26 is certainly darker). It's not like OPI a dozen rosas either which is brighter and pinker and has a pearly sheen. It's not like Essie bootleg (which is paler and more mauve).

It is as good quality as OPI nail polish in terms of ease of application and consistency, however it didn't wear too well (about 2 days) and some bits were flaking off- it could be that Lancome just doesn't react well with my base coat or topcoat or something. (Base coat was Paul & Joe base coat, nothing to rave about, topcoat is Seche Vite which is what's giving the shade a glossy shine).

Lancôme fall 2008- Maharani Jewels 「金燦幻彩」限量秋妝系列

Lancôme fall 2008- Maharani Jewels
LANCÔME 2008年「金燦幻彩」限量秋妝系列

Featuring influences of India- it appears that the Asian release will be different to Western releases, even the promo pictures are different!

This is the Asian promo...as expected, the bronzed look is not as popular in the Asia market so it will be a bronzed dark eye look with pale skin and just subtly contoured.

For the Western promo and more product links, please see
http://iheartmake-up.blogspot.com/2008/07/fall-2008-lancme-maharani-jewels.html

The French designer Alexis Mabille is behind this little gorgeousness! The Lotus Splendor. The design is a 3-D lotus blossom, when opened, the 3 petals will feature 2 eyecolors, 2 lipcolors and 2 mirrows.

Comes in two colors: #01 will be a more subtle sweet look, #02 will be stronger, darker colors.

I managed to get my hands on #01 as pre-release, will need to wait for it in the mail, cant wait!

NT1850, which is about $62USD, a tad pricy for the small size but given the extravagant design, I suppose that's how much most makeup brands would be charging for this.

法國設計師Alexis Mabille設計的「燦蓮彩盤」，外盒是立體蓮花花苞，打開時，三片花瓣是2種眼彩、2色唇彩，以及兩面鏡子。01炫彩珠光主打甜美妝感、02深邃流金則強烈深色系。

2008年8月1日上市在神祕東方古國文化發現本季最時尚元素取材自古印度天然妝彩原料與古印度妝法技巧。再現神祕古印度璀璨風采引領華麗新潮流。

The Asian release features the following products:

Lotus Splendor palette, comes in two colors, (one pictured above, approximately USD62) - 金燦蓮彩盤 限定2色 NT$1，850

Poudre Elephant Teint , (I guess this is same as the Western palette- little gold palette with Elephant design) approximately USD48 - 恆河驕陽修容盤 NT$1，450

Kajal by Nature, approximately USD26 深邃大眼眼線筆 限定3色 NT$780

Colors: India Ink, Amber Night, and Smokey Henna.

Vernis Crème de Nacres (nail polish set in Cinnamon Plum and Saffron Rose) 泰姬瑪哈美甲組 NT$800

Juicy Tubes by Nature (typical Juicy tubes in 3 LE colors) 果凍亮唇蜜 限定3色 NT$700

Color Fever Dewy Shine lipsticks (in 2 LE colors) 玫瑰晨露光唇膏 限定2色 NT$880

若說2008年是時尚印度年再恰當也不過了，從Cartier、Hermes精品時尚的神秘夢幻印度風開始，這股重新詮釋印度文化的流行熱潮正在全球蔓延，向來是美妝界先驅的LANCÔME引領美妝界彩妝潮流，發表2008秋季限量彩妝「金燦幻彩」系列，要以神秘而強烈的印度奢華迷醉迤邐今秋異國色調。

LANCÔME「金燦幻彩」系列循古印度妝法的創作風格及取材運用印度天然妝彩原料，創作設計出令妳聯想到這片充滿純淨原料的豐饒土地，有如在限量彩妝品中蘊孕珍藏著無盡的珍奇奢華珠寶及鮮明的印度色彩秘密。妝感遵循著印度妝法重點，眼妝無疑成為08秋整體妝容的重點中心，以「金燦蓮彩盤」的眼頰唇多用精巧美妝藝品，搭配「深邃大眼眼線筆」打造有如精工雕塑般的眼妝，藉著強烈濃情的眼部線條及所散發出純淨深黑瑪瑙眼部深邃光彩，完美傳達女性獨有的氣質及天生媚態。

「恒河驕陽修容盤」則透過多色調混搭的渲染折射光暈效果，讓整體膚色更顯透亮，並具有落日瑪瑙光暉般柔媚色調，以印度色調的限量色「果凍亮唇蜜」及限量色「玫瑰晨露光唇膏」表現唇部性感魅惑及豐腴光效，再以源自傳統印度美甲妝法的「泰姬瑪哈美甲組」，簡單一筆即可勾勒添抺出獨特珍珠光面美甲，增添獨特神秘感。

source:cyberone.com.tw

udn.com.tw