First Impression - Etude House Go Back Firming Eye Cream

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about Etude House's Go Back Firming Eye Cream! I've recently been on the hunt for the perfect eye cream and this means going through all of the eye cream samples I have lying around, so be prepared for heaps of First Impressions on Eye Creams! ^.^

 What Does It Do?

"Strengthens barrier of eyes with enriched and fermented ginseng ingredient. Density eye cream that creates resilient and elastic eyes. Adheres to skin smoothly and perfectly to give a total care for various troubles of eyes. High density texture that stretches chewing. 6 non-added additives (Non-paraben, non-artificial colors, non-benzophenone, non-animal ingredient, non-mineral, and non-talc)."

This eye cream has a rich cream texture and smells faintly like sweet fermented ginseng (I assume that's what it smells like at least!). This eye cream has a slight silicone feel when applied to the skin and immediately smooths out a couple of my minor eye wrinkles. I'm not entirely sure if this eye cream works to help prevent and cure eye wrinkles or just creates a smoother base to minimize wrinkles. It's hard to tell with a small sample (although they last around a month!). 

Would I Purchase This Product?

Maybe! This product isn't too expensive (around $20USD) and it's a great quick fix for minor wrinkles (it especially helps makeup to sit nicer under the eye). I'm not convinced that this eye cream actually helps my eyes stay youthful and wrinkle free which is why it's on the maybe list.

Any Holy Grail eye creams that you would recommend?

Review - Heroine Make Lasting Mineral BB Cream

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about a really cute BB Cream - the Heroine Lasting Mineral BB Cream in shade 01! I purchased this BB Cream from Sasa, and showed it in my Sasa Store Review back in June. The bottle has absolutely beautiful pink, princessey packaging and is actually a little smaller than it looks, weighing in at 30g.

I purchased the shade 01 and it is extremely yellow/warm toned. If you are pinky/cool toned this will not work well for you! It's quite a bit darker than my skin once it's oxidized and ends up being around the equivalent of MAC NC15.

This BB Cream has a soft matte finish and medium coverage. I can still see a few of my acne scars and freckles through the foundation, but not too many. The colour ends up being a little too dark for me, but if I sheer it out enough it's wearable. However, if I sheer it out I loose the coverage it provides and it takes more time. I found that the BB Cream wore incredibly well, controlling my excess oil (my main concern) and not breaking apart on my face like a lot of other products I own. It did come off a little on the spots that I prodded during the day.

This is an accurate representation of the colour difference between my neck/body colour and the colour of the BB Cream. Check out the coverage and finish though, it's absolutely gorgeous!

What I Love
- Super cute packaging
- Relatively inexpensive ($13USD)
- Applies easily with fingers, brushes and sponges
- Wears well for oily skin

What I Don't Love

- A little too dark for my skin

Final Thoughts

I absolutely love the soft finish, medium coverage and lasting power of this BB Cream! However, it is quite dark for my skin and for that reason alone I won't get as much use out of this BB Cream in comparison to either of my Missha BB Creams. I would however recommend this product for anyone who has NC15 skin that wants a soft matte, medium coverage, super cutely packaged BB Cream! ^.^

Manicure Monday - Midnight Ginger Spice Latte

Hello Princesses!

Today I have some super quick and lazy nails! Whenever I feel extra lazy with my manicures I add a glitter topper to a plain base colour. Or sometimes I create a manicure with a glitter accent nail, either way makes me feel just that little bit more glam than bare nails!

For this manicure I used I Love Nail Polishes My Cat Suit as a black base, and topped it off with the Ginger Spice Latte glitter topper! The photo has mushed the colours together to they now look a little brown, but in real life it looks nice, trust me! ^.^

Does anyone actually read the text in these or do they just look at the pictures? O_o

First Impression - Estēe Lauder Clear Difference Advanced Blemish Serum

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about the Estēe Lauder Clear Difference Blemish Serum! I was recommended this product when I asked the Estēe Lauder counter assistants about the Estēe Lauder night cream.

What Is It?

Finally, a grown-up solution to blemishes. This fast-acting serum reveals clearer, smoother, fresher skin. Targets, treats and dramatically reduces the look of blemishes. Helps prevent new ones from forming and stop the breakout cycle.

86% of women said their skin looked clearer and healthier in just 1 week.
Suitable for all ethnicities.

The Clear Difference Anti-Blemish Collection: See the dramatic change in how your skin looks and feels with our Triple Action Clarity Technology. With the proven power of salicylic acid, it helps stop the breakout cycle, free skin of flakiness, control oil and refine pores. 

Active Ingredients: Salicylic Acid 0.5% Inactive Ingredients: Water/Aqua/Eau, Dimethicone, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Water, PPG-14 Butyl Ether, Acetyl Glucosamine, Sucrose, Isodecyl Neopentanoate, Steareth-21, Glycine, Acrylamide/Sodium Acryloyldimethyltaurate Copolymer, Laminaria, Saccharina Extract, Caffeine, Tocopheryl Acetate, Isohexadecane, Steareth-2, Algae Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Polysorbate 80, Quaternium-22, Butylene Glycol, Sodium Hydroxide, Pentylene Glycol, Disodium EDTA, Fragrance (Parfum) Limonene, Linalool, Phenoxyethanol, Benzalkonium, Green 5, Yellow 5.(1)

The serum has a misty white colour and is quite thin and runny. It has a light almost lemon-y scent which dissipates quickly when absorbed into the skin. It feels quite smooth and almost like silicone when I apply it to my skin and leaves my skin looking matte and feeling moisturized. The lemon or citrus scent comes from the ingredient Limonene which is present in this serum which is a known irritant to skin, so if you have sensitive skin this may not be great for you!

This product is targeted for anyone with blemishes on their skin and claims to  be fast acting, however I felt like this did absolutely nothing to my blemished skin other than making it feel moisturized and look matte. This is potentially because the serum doesn't actually contain that much Salicylic Acid (only 0.5%) which is the active ingredient in the Serum, and my skin needs a little more oomph to banish blemishes.

Would I Purchase This Product?

No. It's incredibly expensive in New Zealand ($120 for 1.7oz) and it doesn't help my blemishes at all. I used the whole mini bottle (.24oz) and I saw absolutely no difference to my skin. I'm not sure if it's because there isn't quite enough Salicylic Acid in the product to combat my acne or just that the formula didn't work for me, but it's an awful lot of money to spend on a product that just makes my skin look soft and matte.

Have you tried this product before? How was your experience?

Review - Benefit Matterial Girl

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about a super cute product that I picked up a little (long) time ago! My product photos died with my desktop computer so I've borrowed the product photos from Benefit's official website! ^.^

This transparent powder is designed to to keep your skin matte (which is why it's called Matterial Girl!). The packaging is insanely cute with little pink bows around the jar, and the powder housed inside it is a light beige colour that turns transparent on the skin.

This powder makes my skin very matte initially, but after about 4 hours I will start to get quite shiny! My skin can very much be hit and miss with certain products, and this powder didn't keep me as matte as my ultra cheap Skinfood Peach Sake Powder (which has been going strong for like two years now) and is substantially more expensive. It also didn't matter what base I wore this powder with, it just always made me very oily and shiny. It's truly transparent so it doesn't add any extra colour to the skin which makes it a great product for all different skin tones as long as you don't tend to get too oily!

 Ew.

What I Love

- Cute packaging

- Transparent for all skin tones

What I Don't Love

- Doesn't help my skin stay matte

- On the expensive side ($50NZD)

 Final Thoughts

The packaging is adorable, but the product just doesn't work for my skin which is totally ok! I ended up passing the product on to someone who will hopefully love it more than me. This powder would probably be very good if you have more of a normal to slightly oily skin type. This was a little bit boring of a review I think, sorry guys!

Have you ever paid a lot of money on a product to be very disappointed?