First Impressions - Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat - B10

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about Yves Saint Laurent's Le Teint Touche Éclat foundation in B10! I tried out the Youth Liberator Foundation previously and found it to be a bit too dark, so the YSL counter ladies suggested that I try this foundation instead!

What Does It Do?

"THE ILLUMINATING MAGIC LIGHT OF TOUCHE ÉCLAT IN A FOUNDATION
For the first time, the magic light of Touche Éclat is in a foundation. Infused in a weightless fluid, Touche Éclat foundation targets shadowy areas and highlights the contours of the face. With buildable coverage and free of opaque fillers, this foundation's perfecting texture evens the complexion and helps conceal imperfections, enhancing your skin's natural beauty. Available in 17 shades with SPF19 broad spectrum UVA/UVB protection." (1)

The colour of this foundation is quite good for my fair skin, albeit a little dark. This is mostly because the foundation is quite sheer, and my face is naturally darker than the rest of my body. It's quite warm toned, so if you have cool toned skin then you can try the BD10 shade!

Ok so this photo looks like a mugshot, I'm totally aware (resting bitch face syndrome hits me hard) but it shows the coverage of the foundation the best! You can still see the freckles on my nose, pores on my cheeks and acne on my chin, but it covers my redness, gives my skin a very healthy looking glow and just generally makes it look like really healthy skin. 

It's a lot lighter in colour than the Youth Liberator and a lot thinner in texture.

Final Thoughts?

I really like this foundation! It's great for days where I don't want to cake the foundation on but still want to look presentable in a hurry! It's actually quite similar to a BB Cream in the sense that it's quite lightweight yet buildable, but doesn't have very many skincare benefits or high SPF so it's kinda different and that means I need it, even though it's expensive ... right? ^.^

First Impressions - Etude House Silk Scarf Haircare

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about the Etude House Silk Scarf Haircare! I got this cute little tester set from Etude House in Taipei (well, my boyfriend did technically) when I picked up a whole bunch of stuff! I was really interested in trying these hair care products out after I used the Etude House Silk Scarf Hair Hologram Serum last year and was really disappointed by it. How cute are these little sachets though!

What Is It?

Shampoo

Camelia oil, Argan oil, Sunflower oil, Macadamia seed oil and four kinds of complexes have 5 contents to penetrate deep into the hair to give a sense of nutrition due to cracked and damaged hair dye of firm takes care to be healthy. Baobab tree extract contain moisture in your hair up when it can maintain a hair. Fruity watery floral aromatic series continued for a luxurious fragrance makes your hair.

Conditioner

Silk Scarf Conditioner is an ultra nourishing, lightweight conditioner specially formulated with oil complex and floral scent to moisturize and detangle hair, leaving it silky soft, flower scented and with brilliant shine. 

Hair Treatment

Specially formulated with oil complex and floral scent, this highly concentrated treatment restores and reinforces brittle and damaged hair, preventing future breakage and leaving your hair extraordinarily strong, soft, silky and manageable.

All of these hair care products have the same fake sweet floral scent which clings to the hair after it's been rinsed, so if you're not a fan of sweet floral smells you will not like this product!

The shampoo is a cute milky pink colour and looks more appealing than it actually is. I found that this shampoo did absolutely nothing for my hair, it was neither cleansing or moisturizing, it literally felt like I'd just washed my hair with water.

The conditioner was marginally better than the lackluster Shampoo, but not by much. It made my hair feel a little slippery and smooth, but didn't help with any tangles that I had, or make the ends of my hair feel hydrated.

The hair treatment was my favorite of the three, but it is still nothing too special. It make my hair feel quite silky and smooth, but it didn't feel nourishing or hydrating for my hair and the smoothness did not last, so I think it's a purely aesthetic smoothness and not a product that actually makes your hair better.

Would I Purchase These Products?

No. I found these smelt and looked lovely, just like the majority of Etude House products, but just like the Hair Serum that I reviewed previously, these products fell very flat (just like my hair HA) and didn't work at all.

Have you tried the Etude House Silk Scarf Haircare before? Did it work well for your hair? 

First Impressions - Yves Saint Laurent Top Secrets All-in-One BB Cream; Clear

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about the most expensive BB Cream I've ever tried, the Yves Saint Laurent BB Cream in the shade Clear. This was recommended to me by my lovely local YSL counter artist after I talked about how I liked the way the YSL CC Cream made my skin feel, but how weird it made it look! You can check out the YSL CC Cream review here!

What Does It Do?

"Hydrate - Conceal - Correct - Protect - Prime: Top Secrets all-in-one BB Cream Skintone Perfector primes the skin to conceal imperfections with non-stop hydration for all complexions, SPF 25. Available in 3 shades.

Ingrediants

AQUA (WATER) . CYCLOMETHICONE . DIMETHICONE CROSSPOLYMER . POLYMETHYLSILSESQUIOXANE . HDI/PPG/POLYCAPROLACTONE CROSSPOLYMER . SODIUM CHLORIDE . PEG/PPG-18/18 DIMETHICONE . HEXYLENE GLYCOL . GLYCERIN . DIISOPROPYL DIMER DILINOLEATE . OCTYLDODECANOL . PHENOXYETHANOL . CETYL PEG/PPG-10/1 DIMETHICONE . HEXYL LAURATE . POLYGLYCERYL-4 ISOSTEARATE . QUATERNIUM-18 HECTORITE . FRUCTOSE . GLUCOSE . PARFUM (FRAGRANCE) . TOCOPHEROL . METHYLPARABEN . SODIUM STEARATE . PROPYLENE CARBONATE . TRISODIUM EDTA . SILICA . BUTYLPARABEN . ETHYLPARABEN . ACACIA SENEGAL . DIMETHICONE . SODIUM HYALURONATE . ALANINE . SILICA DIMETHYL SILYLATE . UREA . PROPYLPARABEN . ISOBUTYLPARABEN . BUTYLENE GLYCOL . ASPARTIC ACID . GLUTAMIC ACID . SOLANUM LYCOPERSICUM (TOMATO) EXTRACT . [+/- MAY CONTAIN : CI 77891 (TITANIUM DIOXIDE) . CI 77019 (MICA) . CI 77492 (IRON OXIDE) . CI 77491 (IRON OXIDE) . CI 77007 (ULTRAMARINES) . CI 77499 (IRON OXIDE) . CI 77510 (FERRIC FERROCYANIDE) . CI 77742 (MANGANESE VIOLET) . TALC . CI 75470 (CARMINE) . “1YT06-1” . ]" (1) 

I was very hesitant to accept this sample because I was doubtful that it would be pale enough for me considering all of the YSL foundation "pale" shades are slightly too dark, but this was pleasantly surprising! This is the clear shade, and I'm truly not sure whether I should be offended or that it's just called clear because it has very little pigmentation in the product. Either way, it's very pale and neutral leaning warm toned. It blends right into the skin leaving very little coverage, but it does blur some imperfections and larger pores! ^.^

I've used this BB Cream as a primer with foundations and just as a stand alone BB Cream and it works just as well either way! It primes my skin amazingly, gives a lovely natural skin look by itself and makes my skin feel amazing!

Would I Purchase This Product?

I would love to, but at $81NZD it's quite expensive for 40mls of product. I really love the product, but I consider it more of a primer or tinted moisturizer than a BB Cream since it's so sheer! It smells amazing, makes my skin look and feel incredibly healthy, so if I could afford it I would definitely buy it!

What's the priciest item in your makeup collection?

First Impressions: LUSH Fair Trade Honey Shampoo

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about Lush's Fair Trade Honey Shampoo! I was given this little pot of golden goodness when I purchased a full size of Angels on Bare Skin, and I thought I'd give it a quick First Impression review since I don't have much luck with Lush's hair care range usually!

What Is It?

Fairly Traded Honey Shampoo

"Over half of this shampoo consists of Fairly Traded honey, which is beautifully moisturizing and gives hair shine and luster. All that honey has allowed us to make this one preservative-free, too! While 50% is honey, 20% is linseed mucilage, which has a lovely texture and is moisturizing and conditioning. Fairly Traded Honey is suitable for almost everyone, but with all these moisturizing ingredients, it is specifically lovely on hair in need of moisture

Ingredients

Fairly Traded Honey , Linseed Mucilage (Linum usitatissimum) , Sodium Laureth Sulfate , Sunflower Lecithin (Lecithin) , Lauryl Betaine , Geranium Oil (Pelargonium graveolens) , Beeswax Absolute , Neroli Oil (Citrus Aurantium amara) , Rose Absolute (Rosa damascena) , Bergamot Oil (Citrus Aurantium bergamia) , *Citral , *Geraniol , Citronellol , *Limonene , *Linalool , *Benzyl Salicylate , *Eugenol , Benzyl Benzoate , *Farnesol , Hydroxycitronellol , Fragrance " (1)

It has the scent and appearance of a quite thin honey (since it contains 50% honey!) but it's quite a heavy and sweet scent. This may sound like a no-brainer, but if you don't like the smell of honey, stay away from this shampoo because, like every Lush shower item I've tried, it will leave a lingering scent on everything, including your shower, towels, pillows and clothes. 

I find that this shampoo works really well for my hair, it lathers well and it gave me a really good deep clean without leaving my hair feeling stripped or dry. I quite like the smell while I'm doing my hair, although I dislike sniffing it straight from the pot because it's so potent!

Would I Purchase This Product?

Yes! I really liked using this shampoo, and at $36.90NZD for 500g it's a reasonably priced product since you don't really need to use too much. I quite like the honey scent, and it keeps my hair looking heavy or greasy! This is being added to the list of LUSH products that I would be happy to recommend to my friends! ^. ~

What are your favorite LUSH products? I'd love to try out some more!

First Impression: The Smim 3D Radiating Moisturizing Solution Ampoule

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about The Face Shop, The Smim 3D Radiating Moisturizing Solution Ampoule. This is a very long name for what I consider to be a very confusing product! I got 4 of these sample sachets in a sample bundle from the super sweet Lani Loves! ^.^

I love samples, but the only bad part about using so many Korean cosmetic samples, is that they are almost always written in Korean (funny that), and never have ingredients or how to use instructions on them. These samples were no different, except for the fact that they were also super hard to research! >< Google was turning up almost nothing for this product, and the information I could find was badly written, hard to understand and contradicting. The only credible English information I can find is from the International The Face Shop website and from Tester Korea, and they don't exactly have the same information.

What Does It Do?

(International The Face Shop information)

"A moisturizing + radiating ampoule that meticulously replenishes skin with moisture creating translucent skin. Also contains pink tone radiating powder that makes pale skin look healthy, delivering instant radiance.

Features
*Natural fermented moisturizing ingredients
*Lactobacillus, soybean fermented extract, buttercup, mistletoe extract
*A fermented moisturizer that goes through the process of 2 step fermentation (liquid-solid fermentation) maximizing the efficacy
*Excellent skin hydration, irritation soothing, calming effects
*Highly moisturizing wrapping film
*Moisture wrapping – Hyaluronic acid
*Hydration wrapping – Bean derived lecithin, triglycerides (main ingredient of skin lipids)

How to use
- Pump 1~2 up to designated line and apply evenly onto face before essence and gently pat for full absorption"(1)

(Tester Korea information)

"THE FACE SHOP Smim 3D Radiating Moisturizing Solution Ampoule

Volume : 8ml*4EA

Ingredients : : Niacin amide, Shea butter, Strawberry extract, Yogurt, Grapefruit extract

Characteristics 

Ultimate brightening solution ampoule with a 3D Radiating Moisturizing Solution capsule. This is a 28day solution capsule that corrects your irregular skin toners - dark, uneven tone and pigmentation. A fermentation ingredient from quintuple strength cloudberry and a triple strength kefir moisturizes your skin intensively
and lightens your skin tone.

Application 

Apply one or two pumps to the palm of your hand and spread it on your face and gently pat it to be absorbed before use of a essence, every morning and night. You may use 1 bottle for a week depending on the grid lines." (2)

What bothers me the most is the lack of definite ingredients. I find it highly unlikely that this product only contains Niacin amide, Shea butter, Strawberry extract, Yogurt, Grapefruit extract like Tester Korea states, which is completely different to the Lactobacillus, soybean fermented extract, buttercup, mistletoe extract that The Face Shop states. I have absolutely no idea what's in this product!

The Ampoule comes out of the packet a creamy white colour and turns a gorgeous pinky purple opal colour on my hand. It has a a moderate citrusy scent and a thin texture that spreads easily over my skin., I often found that I had too much product rather than having too little. I find that the Ampoule absorbs moderately fast, but leaves a sticky residue on my face for what seems like forever, (but is really only about 20mins). The Ampoule is really light and moisturizing, works great as a night cream or as a makeup base, but it does make my skincare regime take longer in the morning because I have to wait for it to absorb.

It's very expensive, at $46NZD a bottle, and comes with a full line of products which I am really interested in. I think it's unlikely that I will buy the whole line myself as it's very expensive (and I have a LOT of skincare products already), but I have to say that the line does intrigue me!

I can't say for sure that all the claims are true (because i don't know what the claims are, and because I only used it for about 10 days) but I can say that my skin felt more hydrated, soft and supple, and it didn't give me any allergic reactions (thank goodness because I still have no idea what's in the product)!

Would I Purchase This Product?

I would like to try more of this product! It's pretty expensive, and it's highly unlikely that I will actually run out of moisturizers (goo hoarding at it's best!) but if it's ever an option for me, then I would love to try the full sized product! It made my skin feel really smooth and hydrated, without feeling oily or greasy.

Has anyone else tried this product? I'm so curious to find out more about it!