what shall i do with my foundation? and apopofkawai launch

It's a rollercoaster since I last posted. Wedding and other things has been happening. A few of my twitter bloggers know a big big news that I received last week, which I'll keep under wrap for now as there are quite a few things to do before i can annouce it.


Just a quickie to say. Nic nic from bang bang she shoots has launched her makeup site.. hehe, I already got a long list of item to send her , and hence my title post.

www.apopofkawaii.com

Remember i said I gone a shade lighter? well.. in fact it is 2 shade lighter than all my foundations except those I purchase in Hong kong doesn't suit. The only thing that suits me is Canmake 3D Foundation in 03, and Jil Stuart 103 (it is very light but still... it is better suited than others)


I need a recommendation for a foundation that suits a NC25.. any??

Natural foundation trial

Used maybelline pure mineral foundation and lavchuca powder foundation
cake today
When I used maybelline before I thought it is too light on coverage
but on a gd skin day it is perfect
Been putting too much foundation and caked up so looking a more naturaL
base look. just dap some powder on area ie chin and nose is perrrfect
Still on trial looking for the best eyeline that dun run even Barry m
fail on me
Only thing works is gel liner or liquid liner pencil liner heads
To bin

Maybelline Angelfit Two Way foundation review

So while I freeze in the very snowy weather in UK, i managed to stay home (ooo I stay home all day anyway) and take more photos with iphone. Seriously, The iphone camera functionality is not bad at all.

This is a review to compliment to Jennifer’s review to the two way foundation. Muah. jennifer. I won’t forget you even you’re in Denmark and still desperate find you the sleek palette

Anyway, Jennifer managed to haul this for me from Hong kong as I wanted to try this. She got OC3 under my instruction ‘get the shade which is darker than yours’ and hence OC3.

And if you are thinking why the case looks so different? I blinged it. I did this first thing I got it as I thought the casing is a bit plain



What’s this?
Maybelline Angelfit two-way foundation

What’s special about this?
Apparently is the Number 1 seller in Japan, and it is design especially for Asian woman. Also according to what I read online, it is really good if you are SE Asian woman as all reviews ‘complain’ it is rather dark. It starts the shade from OC1 which is roughly NC 20. Some even say OC1 is equalivent to a NC30 to start with.Anyway, what I want to say is this is a foundation for ladies with medium skin tone.

How much?
with casing around £10, without around £8. not bad not bad...

What do I think of it.
To start with, and unfortunately. The shade is a bit too dark. It think OC3 is even for girls of NC35-37.
The texture is rather dry even I wet my sponge to apply. But if you moisturise and prime your face well (i.e. I tried with priming Laura Mercier Hydrating Primer) it solved the drying area around the nose.
Coverage is good, not as heavy a the liquid version but good enough as a travel companion to use on its own.
Smooth on applying, and I can’t fault it at all.

Would you recommend it?
Yes. All medium skintone ladies which absolutely haul one. We should support a company who ‘accidentally’ made something especially for us.

P.S. I am also selling this away if anyone wants it. (I must dejunk my foundation) I’m creating a sales haul, but if anyone wants this I’ll sell this for £4 without case. Swatched once.

To compare how dark it is, i took a swatch of what i generally use:

E = Ettusais Pore Zero foundation in OC40
it is a lot lighter compare to the Angelfit OC3. And a lot yellow-tone. This is my one of the very little collection of perfect match foundation I got

N = Nanoce BB cream No.2
you can see a bit darker than Ettusais but still lighter than Angelfit. But remember, Nanoce supposingly adjust to your skintone so the darker colour here does not reflect truly on my face

A = Angelfit OC3
the darkest and not very easy to swatch either. It took at least 3 swatch to show up here on the cotton pad.

Shu Uemura Nobara foundation review

I bought home the Shu Uemura foundation which makes me a super happy girl.

The NOBARA Foundation is a cream foundation in a horrible plastic container

I also bought the sponge because usually the company make the sponge just to go well on its own product

So here you go:

NOBARA Crema foundation:

The pros:

high coverage, natural look
no need for powder on top
wedding artist favourite (oh yes! oh yes!, it was the bride-zilla shopping mode)

The Cons:

horrible plastic container that you have no option to put in a normal compact case (shu uemura don’t even do the compact case for this)
this horrible version is going to be discontinued, and replace by the stick version

Stick version is good right?
Not for your money. The plastic container version holds 13g, but the stick version holds only 10g. THey charge you the same.

Price:

I got 10% off so I’m a happy bunny

the NOBARA foundation: 22.90 GBP
the sponge: 3.51 GBP

To the photos review (which says a truth better than me)








the best example of how never trust SA to fit your shade under a big big light..

even though I have Jamilla next to me when I test this.. see how different it is to my normal skin tone.

this is at least 5 shades lighter.. anyway you can see how it compares to my original naked skin





Shu Uemura VS Maybelline Mineral Liquid foundation (754 shade to 03 Sand)

unfortunately the skin tone mishap continues. But it still match my face colour in general. Look at my hand, it matches the tone on my face

I find that the Maybelline Mineral Liquid foundation matches with a bit of yellow tone.

But look at the eyes area, Shu Uemura obviously have better concealing powder than Maybelline, it hides the eye bags without using concealer




Shu Uemura VS Angelfit Liquid foundation (743 vs W7)

If you look at the area where the word ‘Angelfit printed’ you can see the red tone is not very well covered by Angelfit.

Both does not contain SPF so you need to apply sunscreen, and Primer to hide the red tone

Shu Uemura wins on coverage, again compare the eye area and you’ll see Shu covers better




Shu Uemura VS Revlon color stay (754 vs 310)

Now moving to European brand of foundation and even you can’t see it clearly from photos, it does give you pink tone
So for me it needs some kind of whiter powder to mix in and match my skintone.
Coverage wise is nearly the same as Shu, just Shu wins on providing yellow tone foundation





Shu Uemura vs Lancome Color Ideal (754 VS 03)

Finally, the very expensive lancome foundation, again with a bit of red tone once you compare it with Shu

i seriously hated this foundation coz it is just not quite right. Does it cover my spot? no
does it cover my eye bag? no
does it match my tone? no
and why it is so expensive?

So Shu won because of my hate towards Lancome color Ideal

I am going to try their liquid foundation next, perhaps after x’mas to see how well it fits. Stay tuned!

bargain buy! NYC pressed mineral powder

So after nearly 2 months of no-buy, I broke my no-buy (but hey.. 2 months is impressive) and bought something to make me happy. I had a very depress day when I was told I was not good enough... sigh.. well i’ll keep going..

What’s NYC?

I am not sure. I think it is an imitation of the famous NYX brand (which I heard is coming to London)

All i know it is known for their mineral powder, My Beauty SPot did a good review on this.

Where can you find them?

Superdrugs. Which is just your local shop really

How much?
big smile please

The mineral powder cost only 3.99
and the face powder is 4.99

total damage is 9GBp for 2 items (15 USD)

Pressed Mineral Powder

They offer the loose powder and pressed powder. But i choose pressed because it is easier to carry when travelling

packaging wise : is really drugstore. No fancy and it makes you don’t want to buy it

However, if you look pass the packaging it is pretty ok


my thought:

I have not tried other mineral powder but feel this is really good. No caking and gives a smooth complexion.
My skin has cleared up a lot (until I used that l’egere again..) and applying the mineral powder gives me a natural healthy look.
I use the body shop kabuki brush because it is a lot softer and good in applying
Is there any con I can pick on? nearly nil

absolutely love the fact it is only 7 USD...

my first experience with mineral powder is great so far. but won’t be replacing my liquid foundation

the shade in Natural Beige is a perfect match as well (to NC 30)

(I’ll do the face powder in a separate post)

Ettusais Zero Pore Compact foundation review

the shade chart and the actual foundation

Ettusais has always been my favourite brand. I fall in love with their oil control powder first when I live in Hong Kong. in the hot climate in HK, it is very hard to find anything that doesn’t need blotting every few hours but Ettusais.. wow! no blotting whatsoever. I am quite surprise how popular this brand is among my friends as well.

I went to Wales last week to sort out the wedding, and to pack extremely light, I dug out my Ettusais Compact foundation. Surprise surprise, people been commenting how great my skin look so I decide to do a post on it.

I have been using this compact foundation and this must be my third purchase. In Hong Kong, I definitely can’t do without this. Blotting paper? never exist in my handbag.

The back fo the foundation. I use 40 Beige which is my shade.

I think this is made by Shiseido company. Ettusais is special brand for Adult acne problem. And one of the very few shiseido brand that can cater for darker skin tone. 40 in shiseido shade guide is always a perfect match for NC30

I lost the original case so I bought a raycious case. it fits perfectly, and much more beautiful than the original as well

Price:
248 HKD which is around 33 USD

Texture:
it glides on smoothly on the skin with the sponge given. the instruction says no need to wet the sponge. Just apply directly on face

Coverage:
Average. Definitely need concealer

my skin

in the official website, the before and after look

Here’s a crop of a picture I took in Wales. As you see, some of the acne scar is not properly covered but the foundation gives a glow to the skin. In real life, I look like I have smooth skin

Verdict:

In the introduction of this compact, it says
‘No oily face, no sticky skin, a natural look. Non-chemical sun protection’

It has SPF 12 PA++ in it, weight 11g. and in actual term, if you use it everyday I finish the compact in 3 months.

I like it a lot as it is very comparable to my other liquid foundation, in fact, I like the finishing a little more compare to some of the liquid foundation I have. Perhaps it is just because i never use powder as a finishing touch on my liquid foundation.

If you live in a hot humid climate, I totally recommend this foundation to you.

Frankfurt trip and Maybelline Pure Mineral Foundation Review

Frankfurt and maybelline pure Mineral Foundation

So the post about frankfurt which I went just 2 weeks ago. I thought i’ll post this up before i forget...
I basically spend all my time at the hotel (doing my tax return !!!) I can totally understand why people moans, in fact I am soo overdue that I am getting a big slap by my tax office

So while I am doing my accounts:

German Apple Custard cake (and the vaseline rosy lips next to it, you can see.. Rosy Lips is my HG)




Went to frankfurt coz S went for training. Except he whole heartedly hate german food. This is an argentian steak covered with cheese and garlice with super super nice potatoe crisp/fries.. and behind there’s the guana juice from Brazil. I love globalisation...




I finally venture out and took a 2.5 hour with the tourist office. They operate everyday morning and afternoon. In here, i use mascara, Maybelline pure Mineral Foundation and rosy lips. Again just to hide those blemish on face...

sigh.. i look fat (we all say that right?)




The famous Korean dinner in Frankfurt. And look at the starters! definitely much better in London. For those who don’t know, there’s a big Korean community in Germany, so you have really good korean restaurant. But not cheap. The pancake is around 14 euros
But love love the starters





Ok back to the Maybelline foundation.

i got 030 as shade, I think they have 4 shades.
Compare to the powder mineral foundation, I always prefer liquid, not very sure why, but this is personal preference (will blog about my experience with compact foundation next post)

I bought this because i feel that I need a cheaper foundation, even cheaper than Revlon. And this only cost 7 GBP, and i bought it in the airport before i left for Frankfurt. Bought some sponge at boots, but they’re rubbish.

ok my view:
Nice and simple. Less coverage than BB cream, but better for your skin. It is quite sheer, and easy to apply. However, i need more concealer to hide my acne scar by using this.
Another little complain is it doesn’t stay on face long enough for my liking. In my previous photo, I only been out for 1.5 hrs since I apply and it looks like i haven’t put on. I think I need to get a powder to set it (lemming over Barry M powder)
It is a buyable product for girls who wear makeup, espeically in office environment. And that’s what I’ll use for my cupcake lesson.

Finally..

A big news.

Dao has a new girlfriend.

welcome. mui Chu (妹豬）



our new additional to the Dao Dao Kingdom

Foundation comparison: Revlon, maybelline and Lancome

Foundation comparison review! Maybelline pure mineral, revlon colorstay and Lancome ColorIdeal

So, I'm back from frankfurt and after my university enrolment (the 10 ^th time), I was told no matter what I must submit by April 2010. That's around 300 words per day to complete my dessertation and editing by April. Did I say arghhh very loudly?

Anyway, before I forgot I want to do a foundation comparison. I have been on a foundation crazy since I came back from France because none of my foundation I had works on me anymore. I got a touch darker and plus the previous foundation doesn't match perfectly. I'll do a follow up post on my thought about BB cream after 1 year.

So our contestant for this review are:

Maybelline Pure mineral in Sand 30 (Price: £7.50 / USD 12 )

Revlon Colorstay in 320 Natural tan (Price: £11.15 / USD 18)

Lancome ColorIdeal Shade 30 (Price: £26 / USD 41)

All of these are perfect match except with Revlon Colorstay which is just a little bit dark, will explain later.

I rather do a comparison but not a descriptive review, if you want a detail review, please leave a comment!

Texture/Coverage (Light to heavy):

light: Maybelline

normal: lancome

heavy: revlon

Long Lasting (not so to very long lasting):

Maybelline (not so)

lancome (ok)

revlon (very!!)

Colour match to NC30 (not so to it match perfectly)

Above from left: Revlon, Lancome, Maybelline

Revlon comes out a bit dark, but lancome and maybelline are perfect match

The problem with Revlon is that it comes with two different skintype, Combination/Oily, and normal/dry. I got Combination/Oily because I might use in Hong kong and its best just in case. However, not all drugstore stock all foundation, and when I found the one which stock everything (The biggest boots on oxford street) and compare, combination has a yellow tone compare to Normal. So if you are reading and is yellow tone no matter your skintype is get COMBINATION/OILY, it is yellow toned!

Bottle design:

Revlon (bad)

lancome (ok.. but..)

maybelline (no complaint)

Why lancome doesn't come first? It is a glass bottle and not easy to travel and carry. We all need to pick the bottle up sometime and take it with you right?

Revlon is worst, it doesn't come with a pump meaning you need to pour....

My reason to buy in:

Lancome

I bougth this first when I was walking down the street with S looking for a food mixer. However it was too expensive, and reading Cosmetic candy review on Lancome Teint Idole, I want to buy the same. If anyone follow cosmetic candy, she's a NC35 so for me it's a good reference :)

Went into boots originally want to buy Revlon, decided £11 was too expensive but still walk into the Lancome counter thinking it would only cost 16.. when the very very cute male SA tried it on me with colorstay, he declared it is perfect match and I fell for him. When I took out my card to pay then I realised it cost a bloody £26.

However, my pretty SA told me it should change with my skin. I know it'll become lighter someday but not outside the NC30 bracket, this foundation can stay with me for a while

Other than the expensive price tag, i'm not satisfy with its coverage. Remember I tried shu uemura before? I thought this will give me the same effect (hello! £26) but no... it has the same coverage with my Nanoce and I totally regretted buying this even it is a perfect match.

Maybelline

Bought this in airport and it is a perfect match. I always wanted to try mineral foundation (based on Beauty spot review). Mineral foundation I thought might be a bit like bB cream, it changes colour to match your skintone (correct me if i'm wrong), but when I try it and verified by S, it is perfect match.

Problem is it is light coverage, and I need to learn how to apply this with finger (sponger is bad.. very bad... it absorb everything) and comparable to L'egere bb cream, very light coverage. But indeed it gives a better looking skin and better for your skin!

What makes me buy for it? It is only 7 quid darling.

Revlon Colorstay

Ok, those who follow my twitter will know I actually bought the shade 340 to start with, and not happy with being tanned and oxidate during the day (making me look like a tanned monkey), I went back and successfully got a lighter shade.

What I love is it is very reasonable price, yet it is extremely long lasting. I recommend this to anyone who is starting to use foundation and want to skip concealer. Seriously, I don't really use concealer but it is very thick as well.

My problem is not all drugstore store the right shade for you and there's far too many to choose from. Someone is picky will say yah! Someone who is lazy like me who can only refer to MAC shade is nay.

A rough guide to Revlon is

1X0 = MAC 10-15

2X0 = MAC 20-25

3X0 = MAC 30-35

etc, I know I better suit a 310 shade but hey there's no stock and I run away with my tube of foundation since they're happy for me to refund it (it was completely sealed when I return it if anyone ask)

Conclusion:

DO NOT BUY LANCOME!! TOO EXPENSIVE -yes in capital

but do try Revlon if you can find your shade...

verdict: I'll use revlon for a whole day job and maybelline at night. Lancome is reserved for special day only.

My HG Foundation

My 2 cents on foundations

So it’s a summary post and sharing my view on foundation. If I ever want to go out and wear just 1 thing, it must be foundation.

I have funny skin, My left face is more scarred than right so I need some foundation to cover it up. I yet to find a perfect concealer yet (any suggestions welcome for both acne scar and under eye area) so foundation is important as ever.

That pic shows my current usable collection this is based on 1 thing only, shade!! Why wear the wrong shade? I rather pay and invest (just as I did this Sunday, splash on Lancome Color Ideal when I should stick with Revlon Color foundation) on the perfect foundation (and let that cute guy stroke my face hmmm)

So heres what good for different shades and when I use it (and I certainly hear S screaming, IT’S ALL JUST FOUNDATION.. AREN’T THEY THE SAME?)

Nanoce BB cream 02:

My best friend in BB Cream. It gives you coverage, SPF, what else you want to ask for? And suit my NC30 skin in near perfection (near.... near...)

My only problem with this is the smell, but it is totally bearable, and I have a second tube in stock as well.

Skinfood BB cream Mushroom 02

My 1 ^st bb cream, however it is too light on me now. I think it is more for NC25 or a light NC30. The texture is really thick and little goes a long way. I used this when I'm travelling.

Skinfood BB cream Aloe 02

My spare skinfood bb cream that is yet to be used. The colour looks fine and it has a runnier texture, and darker as well. Why i'm not using it? I'm waiting for my mushroom bb to hit the pan first

L’egere Shiny BB cream (Red tube)

I love this and now hate it. I love it as it is sheer and long lasting. I hate it coz it doesn't give a lot of coverage. I can use this on a good skin day, but on the days when I have bad skin (I.e PMS) then I need to skip it.

I have 2 tubes and will use it as a base rather than on its on

Maybelline angelfit W07

My HG at the moment. Perfect colour and very good coverage. However, it does not have SPF which doesn't bother me. I put on my Anessa sunscreen which is SPF 50 and it is not oily at all! I survive my HK trip using this and kept this until now.

Chanel Tinted moisturizer

On a quick shopping trip, I put this on and that's all. It is now in the right shade (sigh.. yes the SA is right, you get tanned in summer and you need something little bit darker) but the coverage is not good. This is my travel moisturisier which I probably take with me for my trip to frankfurt next week

Lancome Color Stay 03

My latest collection in the perfect shade for now. But, I won't reocmmend this as it is super expensive (26 GBP!!! I can buy at least 2 tubes of Angelfit) it has a bit of SPF (8) but not enough coverage. It does give a smooth surface. I should stick to my original choice of the full coverage in the lancome foundation collection.

Chanel Hydramax+ Tinted Moisturiser review

Hiya. This is Saturday morning and rather than revising my Japanese for my lesson in 5 hrs, I am here blogging. I yet survive another supervision, unfortunately, my supervisor is leaving so this is my last time seeing him in person. But I said I’ll see him in Australia so it should be fine.

This might be an anticipated review as many comments said ooo.. that looks nice! So I have test drive it for 3 days and able I hope to give a honest review.

Price:
£29 for 40ml
P.S. I have checked ebay and HK sellers claim this is £44 retail price. So not true! I don’t know if this is the price from the counter but I paid this price at House of Fraser

Shade Available:
10, 15, 20.
I’m NC30 and I tried both 15 and 20. 20 is definitely way too dark (I think it is for NC37 or darker for no. 20)
I bought No.15 which is called Sunlit

Sun protection :
SPF 15

Direction claimed by the packaging:
Smooth on face each morning.
(wheres applying moisturizer?)

what it claims:
hydration intense. Healthy glow natural effect
actibe moisture tinted lotion for the face

Verdict:

texture:
Very very nice. I can feel my skin sucking the moisturize out from this as soon as I apply., Also it has a cooling effect on the face, so your face feel very cooling after applying this.

Applying method:
I was a bit surprised that it says just apply directly on face. Do you need primer? Do you need more moisturizer before applying? It seems chanel decided this is an alternative to their hydramax moisturizer so you can simply apply this on your face without prep. But this explains a lot to the lack of coverage.

Coverage:
To show you how bad I think it is compare to BB cream. I decided to do a FOTD to show you how lack of coverage it is.

First of all, I need at least 2 layers of this just to cover a bit of redness. I can’t get all redness covered by this tinted moisturizer. But if you think that this is the only layer you’re applying, than it makes all sense. If this is a moisturizer, you won’t hide your blemish, but simply to give your face a smoother texture. The first FOTD only apply this with 2 layers, no moisturizer, no concealer. I apply this with a sponge


Then the second FOTD, I put some L’egere Natural Mineral powder on top, brush with a Bodyshop Kabuki brush. Now, more coverage. But still you need concealer. Unlike using BB cream, This doesn’t give a foundation finish.


If you look at this zoom photo, you can see my acne scar are still there. If I use bb cream, it is all covered and no need of extra concealer.

It is not very long lasting, I think after 4 hours of applying, my face looks bare. Very bare even with powder.

Shade:
I bought 15 when I tried at the counter and 20 is way too dark. But when I come home, I feel that even shade 15 is a little bit tad dark for me. I tried to ‘neutral’ it with my Laneige face powder all over, but then it becomes too light.

I feel that if you are lighter than NC20, don’t try. I think if the lightest shade is 10, and 15 is for NC30, then if you’re a NC15 or a light NC20 this shade don’t suit you.
To illustrate more, my SA who is a Caucasian, boosted that if she used sunbed with 2 session, she’ll use Shade. 20. she is a lot darker than me and I think she’s probably a NC40 or even darker.

Who should buy this?
4 types of people:
1. you’re lazy and you hate putting different things on face. You can just walk out with this on and it has all the function you need. Moisturizer, little coverage and sunscreen
2. If you’re a frequent travel and need something with everything, this is good. I think it will work very well in hot and humid climate because it is a very hydrating moisturizer.
3. If you are having a bad skin day (i.e PMS, acne-prone) then this will suit, because again all in one and non-irritating.
4. You are aware that you probably need to re-apply sunscreen every 2-3 hours, and can’t be bother to take off your makeup then reapply. You only need to slap this on and that’s it.

However, if you are looking for coverage or a replacement of your BB Cream, you can totally skip this. This does not give coverage but a good all-in-one for lazy people. I’ll put this in my travel bag for HK for those days I’m running around and need some sunscreen.

I probably do a travel bag special soon when I start my packup for HK.

Where's dao dao? he went outside to catch birds when I took all these photos. If back by popular demand, I'll do a dao dao beauty special. lol