Manicure Monday: Midnight Sparkles

Hello Princesses!

Today I have a really lovely manicure with a deep midnight blue jelly polish - Color Club's Blue-topia and and a beautiful silver glitter polish - Maybellines Sequins! You can see that my names are getting less and less inventive.

I love this manicure, but Blue-Topia is really difficult to get off your fingers without staining everything blue, and I mean EVERYTHING. I stained my nice white top, tabletop and ALL of my fingers blue taking that polish off, but I'm so in love with the colour and jelly finish!

Do you Princesses have a less annoying dupe for Color Club Blue-Topia?

Review & Giveaway: Annies' Way; Arbutin + Hyaluronic Acid Mask

(Sponsored)
Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about an amazing jelly mask that I first heard of through Lindy from Bubzbeauty - the Arbutin + Hyaluronic Acid Brighting Jelly Mask from Annie's Way! I was kindly sent this product by YesStyle and this is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to purchase legitimate Annie's Way masks since they tubs are quite heavy they often cost quite a bit to ship to New Zealand. YesStyle offers free international shipping for orders over $25USD, and in September are offering a free spatula with the purchase of the Jelly Masks, and a free Jelly Mask or Sheet Mask sample with any order over $17USD.

Before anyone tries to call me out on fake sponsored posts, you can check out my previous un-sponsored reviews of YesStyle from 2 years ago, here, here and here. *sassy finger wiggle* I don't have time for fake paid reviews.

The mask is packaged in a beautiful pastel printed paper wrapping with English translation of the Mandarin instructions, which is great because I am absolutely terrible at reading Mandarin. The mask is made in Taiwan, my boyfriends home!

The packaging is massive, but very practical. It's made of plastic so it's lightweight, and won't break if you drop it. It also comes with a thin plastic covering between the product and the cap so that the mask won't spill into the cap. The mask is super thick and literally like soft jelly, so you can tip the mask over without it spilling out!

The mask had a safety seal so that you know it hasn't been opened, and it came with the spatula to apply the mask with. You will actually need the spatula to get the mask off too, so it's extra awesome that YesStyle are offering this free as their monthly promotion!

"Revitalizing jelly masks treat skin to continuous moisture combined with a whitening effect to minimize dark spots and even out skin tone for a fair and translucent complexion. For a weekly pampering session, spread a dollop of mask evenly on cleansed and toned face and leave on for 30 minutes before scraping off. Wipe face with tissue after removing mask and rinse thoroughly with water.

Whitening, moisturizing, minimizes fine lines, leaves skin radiantly bright. Direction of Use: 1. Clean face and apply toner on the skin as base. 2. Apply Jelly Mask approximately thickness 0.3~0.5 cm evenly by using a spatula. 3. After 30 minutes, remove the jelly mask by scraping gently from outside to inside. ( It will be more effective if scrape forcibly. Especially the jelly mask has softened the blackheads and acne. You will be able to scrape it all out easily. 4. Wipe off with tissue paper after you scrape it all out. 5. Repeat the same action few times, and rinse with water. Apply moisturizer or paper mask as what you usually use. Use twice a week, or as needed. Attention: Rinse with water immediately if you feel uncomfortable in the beginning of use the product. Warmest Reminder: For sensitive skin user, use only for 15minutes for first time, and follow by 15 to 20 minutes. Pack Size - 250ml" (1)

The mask literally looks like jelly on my face! It's also very cooling and I can feel a slight tingling feeling while using the mask, though it's not at all painful like the Glamglow mask was for me!

These are the immediate results of before and after the mask was used. You'd probably have to zoom to see the results, but my skin looks more hydrated and my pores appear a little smaller. There is a very small difference!

Here are the results after one month of use. I'm currently massively breaking out on my chin due to a new serum that I'm trialling (dam you, Shiseido Ultimate serum!) but there's not much I can do about that. I found that the mask lightened some of the smaller scars, but didn't really make my face whiter. It did make it brighter for a short period of time, but if I missed one session of the mask then the brightness would also stop. I found that the mask hydrated my skin a lot, so it plumped out the finer wrinkles on my forehead and mouth, while also helping to remove some of the dead skin from the acne around my chin.

 Cheek comparison

 Forehead Comparison

 Chin Comparison

Chin Makeup Comparison. This is where you can see my favorite difference, since it was taken midway through my trial (before my breakout). Makeup always gets caught in the super gross acne on my chin. Exfoliation and micro-dermabrasion didn't help, but the mask absolutely, truly helped. I wouldn't recommend it if it didn't.

What I Love

-  Immediately brightens skin

- Hydrates skin (thus improving fine lines from dehydration)

- Smells lightly and pleasantly of lemons

- Easy to apply and remove

- Great practical packaging

- Lovely cooling feeling

What I Don't Love

- Usually need to purchase Spatula separately, which is silly since you do need it to use the mask effectively.

Final Thoughts

I really love this mask! I wasn't particularly expecting to like it as much as I do, even though I'd heard Bubz raving about it in a couple of Vlogs and favorite video's! I think that the mask works really well and provides immediate brightening results, but mostly that it really hydrates the skin and plumps it up which helps hide the appearance of fine lines. I'll definitely be using this whole tub, and trying a different version next time! ^.^

Thanks so much to YesStyle for sending this product for me to review!

You can win your very own Jelly Mask by entering my giveaway! This giveaway is open internationally too so anyone can enter! (:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

First Impression: Yves Saint Laurent Youth Liberator Foundation - B20

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about my First Impression of the Yves Saint Laurent Youth Liberator Foundation in B20! I'm not sure why I was given B20 when they actually make a B10 shade (maybe NZ doesn't stock it) but I was given this shade last year! >< The jar was quite small so I only got 2 wears out of it and then lost the pottle for a while. But now I've found it so I'll tell you what I think of it! ^.^

What Is It?

"Yves Saint Laurent presents a revolution in foundation: Youth Liberator Serum Foundation offers medium-to-full coverage and skin-firming benefits. It also offers 24-hour hydration and SPF 20 coverage.
This anti-aging foundation is infused with our award winning serum, Forever Youth Liberator Serum. Youth Liberator Serum Foundation combines 24 hours of nonstop hydrating properties to smooth and nourish the skin with our patented Color Tune-Up Complex to correct dullness giving you a newer, brighter complexion. From fair to dark complexions, Youth Liberator Serum Foundation corrects, unifies and evens all skin tones, giving the skin an instantly younger appearance.
Available in 10 universal shades. SPF 20 broad spectrum UVA/UVB protection." (1)

The shade B20 is a little dark for my skin tone unfortunately, it does blend and sheer out to be workable, but it's not the best colour. It provides a great medium coverage and covers pores and minor scars quite well as you can see in the comparison photos! It doesn't have the best oil controlling capabilities, so I would need to blot my face after around 5 hours of wear.

This foundation is infused with the amazing Youth Liberator Serum (that I cannot afford) and it honestly made my skin feel amazing while I was wearing it, and also after I took it off. I love wearing makeup products that make my skin feel better instead of just camouflaging my terrible skin! It also smells amazing which is a total plus!

This photo shows the colour difference a little more, my chest is the same colour as the rest of my body (yes, including my arms and legs!) so it obviously looks really weird to just have my face a different colour to the rest of my body. And no, I'm not interesting in fake tanning or bronzing my entire body to match my face.

Would I Purchase This Product?

Maybe in the lighter colour if I had the chance to try it! B10 looks like it's a touch lighter and yellower than the B20 so it could potentially be ideal! It's an amazing and expensive foundation, but I would be able to justify the price because it has the serum infused in the foundation and it makes my skin look and feel lovely! ^.^

Have you Princesses tried this foundation before? What were your thoughts?  

Review: Etude House Lip and Eye Remover

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about a fairly standard product - Etude House's Lip and Eye Remover! Whenever I say the name out loud I admit I have a little giggle, just because it doesn't actually include the word makeup, it literally says Lip and Eye Remover. Just me? ><

This was actually a surprise present bought for me by my wonderful, long suffering boyfriend, who diligently shopped at a real life Etude House for me while he was in Taipei last year. I'm SO EXCITED to go back to Taipei for next years Chinese New Year and actually visit the store myself *SQUEE* While he was purchasing everything on my wishlist, the lovely ladies at the Etude House store pointed out to him that if he spent $100TWD ($4NZD) more in his one purchase then he would get a gift pack full of little goodies. He knows how much I love gift bags and samples, so he picked this little Lip and Eye Remover not knowing how much I would actually love this product!

You can purchase this Remover from Roseroseshop for $3.26USD. It's 100ml  and is a water and oil mix so you do need to shake the bottle to combine the remover! It smells amazing (a good smell is so important to me) and feels so gentle and moisturizing on the skin. I think it's the mixture of oil with the water that makes this remover so lovely, it's not drying on the skin, but it also doesn't leave the skin feeling slick and oily.

So how does it work? This is the Lime Crime Velvetine in Utopia after 6 hours. The Lip Remover removed all of the colour gently, without too much tugging of the lips (which is why they don't look red and irritated), and no left-over staining. Win! It's worked fantastically on every single lip product that I own.

I accidentally collaged these in the wrong order (I was absorbed by looking at the reflections on my eyeballs!). I used the Collection Does it All Mascara which I think is waterproof (it doesn't say on the packaging) and a pain in the butt to remove, but this makeup remover works really gently and removes all of the mascara without leaving my eyes looking red and irritated or oily.

What Do I Love

- Super cheap

- Smells amazing

- Works well on eyes, lips and face

- Don't need to rub eyes to remove makeup

What Don't I Love

- Not available in New Zealand

Final Thoughts

I absolutely love this Lip and Eye Remover! It's super cheap, works well and smells amazing and I will definitely be repurchasing it again and again because I just love it so much! ^.^

What are your favorite ways to remove your makeup?