The Face Shop Freshian Volumizing Mascara is my second favorite mascara (4 Stars).

When I first purchased the mascara it had a very wet formula, which tended to smudge, however after the formula dried a bit (around 3 weeks later with continued use) I found the results to look much better.

I have only one complaint: it tends to clump easily, which is not a problem if you only apply two coats. The mascara is long lasting and because the color is very black it really defines your lashes while holding the curl. Although this is a volumizing formula, I noticed that whenever I happen to wear this particular mascara I get complimented on how long my eyelashes look (bold but natural).

If you are looking to try a mascara that gives volume and lengthening I recommend you check out the Freshian Volumizing Mascara by The Face Shop.

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Skinfood Choco Smoky Eye Palette

The Skinfood Choco Smoky Eye Palette is available in two shades and I have #2 Warm Brown Choco.

This palette comes with three shades (champagne, light taupe brown and dark warm brown) and a brown gel eyeliner.  While the colors swatch beautifully, the lasting power is terrible. Even with primer the color tends to fade within the first few hours.  The gel eyeliner immediately smudges no matter how long you wait or if you set it with powder. These eye shadow works best with a sponge tip applicator or your fingers. You can use a regular eye shadow brush, but there is a lot of fallout and the color application is more sheer. I also found that the when you use both brown eye shadow the final look is more muddy, versus using only one of the brown shade with the champagne. 

Although the colors are nice and the fact that the eyeliner comes with the palette, which would make it a great travel palette, the lack of staying power, fallout, and inability to create various looks makes the overall palette a miss. 

Final rating: 1 Star

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The Face Shop Face It Primers

The Face Shop has three locations here in Hawaii - McCully, Ward and Waimalu.  I have been to all locations and for some reason I prefer the McCully and Waimalu location.
This is a quick mini review on three face primers, the Velvet Skin, Moisture Pore Balm, and Oil Cut Pore Balm.

Of the three primers, Velvet Skin is definitely my favorite and a cheap alternative to the Smashbox Photo Finish primer.  It is packaged in a white bottle with a pump and comes out as slightly white gel.  It blends out clear on the skin and does a great job of smoothing the face. It does not control shine as much as the Oil Cut Pore Balm, but I also never found myself getting excessively oily either.

I finished using the Oil Cut Pore Balm last month so I do not have any pictures but it came in the same package as the Moisture Pore Balm but in a blue package. Both of the primers come in a balm form and while the Moisture balm is pink the Oil Cut is slightly yellow/clear tint, but they both blend out clear.  The Oil Cut Balm is also a favorite because it really help keep the skin matte and smooth.  If I did not feel like wearing any foundation or BB/CC cream, I could just use the Oil Cut Balm to help control the shine on my face.  The only reason why I might not repurchase this product is due to the package. It didn't bother me at first, but unlike the Moisture Balm, the Oil Cut only came with a sponge and no spatula. So unless I had an extra spatula on hand, I had to use my fingers/or sponge to apply the product, which also meant I had to keep dipping into the product.  On the other hand, the Moisture balm came with a spatula and a sponge (half a round). The spatula made it easier to scoop out a desired amount of product.  However the Moisture Balm was my least favorite out of the three primers. While both the Velvet Skin and Oil Cut made the skin smooth and foundation application even, the Moisture Balm made the foundation application worse. The Moisture balm was not very moisturizing and although it did smooth the skin the foundation application was never even or long lasting.

My rating for the Velvet Skin and Oil Cut Pore Balm is 4 stars and 1 for the Moisture Pore Balm.  I will be getting rid of the Moisture Balm and finishing up the Velvet Skin.

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Tony Moly Cats Wink Foundation and Powder

“Global beauty brand” Tony Moly is available at two locations here in Oahu, which makes it very easy to try various products.  Today I will give a quick review for two products, a foundation and powder, in the Cats Wink line.

I bought both products last November so I have used it enough to have a clear opinion.

I have the Cats Wink Shiny Skin Foundation in the shade Natural Beige.  The foundation has SPF20 PA++ and is suppose to provide a smooth and moisturizing coverage.  Unfortunately, I didn’t find the foundation to follow through.  Whether I used a primer (oil free, pore/smoothing, matte, moisturizing etc) or not, I always found the foundation to apply very patchy and hard to blend out.  I have tried various ways to apply the foundation (brush, sponge, hands) and I found that using an air puff (the puff that comes with cushion pacts) was the best.  Despite providing good coverage it emphasizes dry spots and I found at the end of the day, no matter what I used to set it, the foundation seemed to disappear.  I never find myself using this foundation and with more cons than pros I would not recommend it.

My final rating: 2 stars

Unlike the foundation I love the powder in this line.  The Cats Wink Clear Pact in Clear Beige is a great powder packaged in an adorable cat shaped compact. This powder does not provide a completely matte finish.  Instead it gives a soft but smooth matte (보송 보송) finish.  I have very oily skin with some dry patches and I find that this powder provides good oil/shine control (roughly 4 hours) and does not cling to the random dry spot. However, I find that with my skin type, it does not work well with moisturizing/glowy foundations. When used with a foundation that gives a glow, the powder does not seem to control shine (the finish is very nice but touch up is needed more frequently).  I personally found that it worked better with my foundation or BB creams that provided a normal to matte finish.  The powder gives good shine control without making my face appear very matte or dry.  I would recommend this powder if you want shine control without the overly matte finish.

My final rating: 4 stars

As part of my journey to declutter and keep only the things I use (or love using) I will be getting rid of the foundation and keeping the powder. 

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Memebox and Tony Moly Haul

I have been interested in learning how to contour/shade my round face.  So I picked up a few contour/shading products from Memebox and Tony Moly.  Of course I also bought a few items I was interested in trying for quite some time.

From Memebox (online) I bought the following:

- XO Memebox Cushion Puff Set - $5

- Yeondukong x Memebox Easy Shading Stick #01 Contouring Brown - $12

- Too Cool For School Art Class By Rodin - $17

- Pony x Memebox Pony Easy Mix Block Blush - $9.50

From Tony Moly (inside the Dillingham Palama Market) I bought:

- Crystal Blusher #05 Sugar Brown – $3.64 (it was 50% off but the original price was $7.28)

- Egg Pore Yolk Primer - $15.98

I feel like Tony Moly prices the products oddly…

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Ailee (에일리) “I Will Show You” (보여줄게) Inspired Look

Image is a screenshot from one of her performance

So earlier this fall amazing solo artist, Ailee (에일리), did her comeback with the song “I Will Show You” (보여줄게). Throughout her performances she had this amazing eye look that was very similar but ranged in degree of smokiness.

Cosmetic-Love Haul

Earlier this month I placed an order on Cosmetic-Love, a website I heard through different YouTube beauty bloggers.