Review: Etude House, Sugar Tint Balm: Cranberry Pie

In my hunt for the perfect lipstick, I decided to look into Asian beauty products as they tend to be made for long-wearing…

Following the rise of Summer, I did some research and found out that Etude House had decided to create their own ‘version' of the Fresh Sugar Tint lip balms.

Sadly, there wasn't many swatches nor comparisons out there, so I was limited mainly to guesswork from the pictures posted by online shops.

My skin shade is best described as pale neutral (i.e. somewhere in the middle of pink and yellow toned) so I figured the pink-red shades were probably my best bet.

After a long time to decide which one to get, I finally settled on Cranberry Pie.

Best guess from what I had to go on, I'd say that this is a true red that's just slightly on the pink side.

In a bid to compare it to Western beauty products, I decided that the Revlon lip butters were probably my best bet.

Where the Revlon lip butters and lip crayons are more lip balms with lipstick added, I reckon that these Etude House ones are Lipstick with lip balms added.

One of the best features of this product is just how pigmented it is!

As you can see from the photos, it's really difficult to tell which is the 1-2-3 swipes.

Another added benefit to this is that whilst it's not too drying - it stays on a pretty long time. 

One feature I like about Asian tints is that they tend to be more of a ‘stain' as it does leave a nice red-pink layer on your lips - despite transferring like crazy!

Longevity is something I find difficult to judge as I'm something of a chronic tea drinker - but I can say that light transferring aside, it did last through one large mug of tea. With a noticeable colour still on my lips at the end of it. Sadly...it was all off by the end of cup 2...

Shade comparison wise, I'd say it's closer in tone to Revlon Cherry Tart than Wild Watermelon Lip butter.

Price wise, it's a really affordable $13 (including p&p)

Overall, I'd say it’s really worth giving these a go, although it does come in only 8 shades - especially given how easily they are to track down on ebay!

Korean / Japanese sticker hauls! Thanks to Ebay, Hot Dollar, and Morning Glory

Following me getting a proper planner from kikki.k instead of relying on DIY, I fell into indulging in getting stickers to use as planner embellishing - easier to show a haul as I tend to embellish for the day as I go along...

The trouble is, most of the stickers on sale seem to be a bit “thick” - so it turns out that my ideal stickers are the really thin plastic kind from Japan/Korea, following my discovery of a couple I loved at Morning Glory stationery store.

Initially, I looked in on Morning Glory, which then led me into looking up Kawaii stickers on ebay; a pretty decent success rate on locating mini ones that would fit perfectly in the “day” squares on the monthly spread of my diary - leading to a quick look in the Hot Dollar Store to see if they had any cheap stickers as well.

hot dollar and korean / japanese sticker haul:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLxMgeLHehg

It turned out that most of the ones available in Hot Dollar are a little thick too - so it was back to Ebay for more searching.

With the Shopping Gods on my side this time, I had a very successful haul from a couple of online Korean stationery stores - although l did have to wait 3-4 weeks for them to show up…

korean sticker haul july-september, marshmallow rabbit, joo zoo, cat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxDrEjDocOg

How I use my kikki k planner financial year 2015-2016

This is my very first attempt at making a youtube video...Basically a trial practice for the one I have to make for my class assignment.

my kikki.k financial year planner review

Essentially a way to share my love of planners...

Basically, I'm a huge fan of all things kikki.k and I've been into journaling since high school. In my bid to be more aware of my day-to-day activities, I figured investing in a decent diary might be the way to go.

I chose this one as it's the only one they have this year in the ‘financial year diary’ form that has a monthly spread.

I've been a sucker for youtube planner hauls since Dec last year, so it seemed like a good idea to invest more in one myself. In this case, what I love to share is my stickers hauls for the planner rather than any "plan with me" as I like to decorate as I go along rather than any full pre-plans...

Anyone else a big fan of planner decorating?

Things I Regret Buying...

Completely Overrated Maybelline Great Lash Waterproof Mascara

As I’m the sort of person who hates to not use stuff up completely before throwing them out, one of the things I kinda regret buying is the Maybelline Great Lash waterproof mascara.

As I have sensitive eyes that run easily, I always have to buy my mascara in waterproof formula – also as I have stumpy lashes that go straight down that is typical of most Chinese, the waterproof formulas are the types that tend to smudge with me the least.

I also sometimes use the tip I learnt that one of the reasons mascara smudges as much as it does is due to the oils on your eyelids – so I tend to put skin coloured powder under my eyes.

So this particular mascara is one of the most overrated products that I’ve ever bought. I’m starting to be convinced that magazine make-up reviewers are bribed in some way by the company to rave about certain products as this one is definitely NOT as good as it’s purported to be.

Although it does slightly thicken my lashes, there is no particular lengthening effect. BUT this SMUDGES insanely within one hour of use I found smudges under my eyes, so I have to consistently swipe my finger under my eyes whenever I wear it.

This includes when I wear some of the Clarins Double Fix Mascara over it, and the Clarins stuff is awesome as it really works. The worst part is that the Great Lash also gets into the ‘mascara fix’ so it ruins wots in the tube by mixing with the product and getting it all black – and this includes when I wipe both wands after use.

Review: Lancome Juicy Tube - Moulin Rose

I remember the hype re Lancome’s Juicy Tubes lip glosses when they first came out back in high school, so for a long time I have been thinking about buying a tube for myself.

Well all I can say is this, they’re not worth the hype – at least for me.

As a general rule, I don’t much like squeeze tubes of lip gloss as the colour pigments don’t always mix well in the tube and so sometimes all you squeeze out is the clear liquid part of the gloss without the pigment. This tube was no exception when I first opened it.

Moulin Rose actually applies rather clear, with barely any colour. But the thing that brings to mind re disregarding the hype is the fact that the stuff is rather sticky on my lips and so if I’m not too careful, my hair sticks to it really easily. Or rather, it feels like I have slightly dried syrup on my lips, which is a feeling I kinda hate...

So for now, I’ve decided to hang onto it to use as last minute night time lip balm as I don’t really like throwing stuff out, and you can’t donate second-hand make-up.

Red Lipstick - Lush Lip Tint Review - A Million Kisses

So as part of my hunt for the perfect red lipstick, I decided to give lip tints a try. Basically, they just add colour to your lips without any extras…

As you may know, I am something of a Lush addict, given my love of their chocolate whipstick lip balm since it reminds me of my favourite Terry’s Chocolate Orange, and after sampling it in the store, I had to bring their million kisses lip tint home with me.

Given that I tend not to buy any beauty products without reading advice and reviews first, I’ve found that the best review is from corallista. My personal opinion is that it gives a perfect vintage-y red lip look, so long as you remember to layer it properly, although the trouble is that it also tends to come off easily if you decide to eat and drink a lot – leaving a look that brings to mind the idea of wearing lipliner without lipstick. Other than that, it does work as a rather good tint on me especially when I apply it sheer, although I also need to apply a good lashing of lipbalm first as my lips tend to be rather dry…

Red Lipstick - Kate Moss for Rimmel London

Ever since I was in high school, I’ve had an enormous girl crush on Kate Moss. Also Rimmel was the first brand of non-discount make-up I’ve ever bought. So I was really chuffed when I found out that they had collaborated together for a range of lipsticks.

It’s pretty much a no-brainer that in my hunt for the perfect red lip, I had to buy myself a lipstick from the range.
I also totally love the fact that the lid has a little Rimmel crown logo on top.

I usually prefer my lips in terms of colour more sheer-looking so even though the colours are really strong and smooth when applied, without being too drying, I tend to dab my lipstick on my lips either directly from the tube or with my fingers so that it works more like a tint.

N.B. I was also really happy to discover that Kate Moss shares my love of Scott Fitzgerald, and especially of Zelda. So it’s really awesome that her engagement ring is based on Zelda’s – although let’s hope for her sake that her marriage turns out to be better than the Fitzgeralds’ was…  

 

I’ve been on the hunt for a ring similar to hers for a very long time now (about 1 year), so if anyone knows where I can look to find one, I’d be totally grateful!!