Alas, Dr ci:Labo BB Cream review

Hi girls, do you miss me? When I told you I have a timetable of death I seriously meant it. I also just started another job (which is detailed in my personal blog) so trying balance everything at the moment. Dao dao has been very naughty because he lost his 24 hours carer (yes, I used to stay home 24/7 and Dao has his slave 24/7), and now he is by himself 2 days a week which makes him a very very cute cat. He's trying to get your attention whenever you're around and even sleeps on my lap..

Oops, too much Dao dao cuteness, so here's the review:

Dr Ci:Labo BB Cream

Dr Ci:labo there're 4 different tubes from them

Natural

Light

Shiny

Dark

Dr Ci:Labo also sells in Hong Kong and USA.

According to Dr CiLLabo site, this is one of the BB cream that helps to keep moisture in the skin as well as the other functions, make up base, concealer, foundation, moisturiser, SPF, essence etc. It keeps in line with their all-in-one strategy in their Aqua Collagen Gel.

What's special about Dr Ci:Labo BB cream?

This is one of the rare makeup product without paraben, and hence the very expensive price tag. It is 4 times the price of a normal BB cream (i.e. Nanoce) and there's not many Japanese made BB cream around.

There's no fragrance, artificial colouring, no paraben, no mineral oil and Free from UV absorber. So it is as natural as you can get and should be free from any allergic reactions. If you have really sensitive skin, you can try Dr Ci:Labo with ease.

There's also this EGF element included in the cream, and Dr Ci:Labo claimed it is good for your skin.

Which tube should I choose?

See this chart for reference

How much?

4000 yen my darling. That's 40 USD

My thoughts:

TO be honest, I love seeing a BB cream catered for darker skin tone. Halo? Not everyone got the perfect skintone (aka NC 20) therefore, I am always having trouble trying products as all Japanese foundations only catered up to NC 25 only.

However, very disappointed with the colour match, even it says dark, it has a grey cast therefore it looks like it is not dark enough for NC 25.

See my FOTD:

Can you see the colour difference between my face and my neck? Yes at least 2-3 shades difference, it gets better during the day but I seriously can't wear it for non-casual occasion. It just don't match.

It does not conceal nicely in my opinion, you need some good concealer for some of the areas. It is not as perfect as their advert claim.

the texture is so-so. It is quite runny compare to Skinfood bb cream, or even Nanoce. The texture is similar to L'egere BB cream.

Would you recommend this?

No! I SWEAR to myself I shouldn't buy but I can't resist, but I thought I'll buy it to support a makeup company that make something for darker skintone. And gosh.. 40 USD can get me 3 tubes of Nanoce instead.

Girls, don't waste your money. I totally recommen l'egere if you're looking for similar texture (And it works for NC30-35 as well) or my favourite, Nanoce (which I bought myself another tube)

Beauty Bloggers/Readers meet-up Date and Venue UPDATE

i present you, a cat in need of attention

Beauty Bloggers/Readers meet-up Date and Venue UPDATE

Updated:

8/09/09

We will be meeting with Kay from Bihada Dairies, Jamilla and myself on 13th Sept

noon in Westfields, anyone want to join please email me and I'll tell you exactly where to meet.

_______________________________

Hi girls...

I'm very closed to death. no.. not that my asthma attack gives me death threats, but simply deadlines deadlines deadlines. Those of you who have been reading, I'm a phd student, I just been told my supervisor is coming back from Australia so i'll have a meetup with him in 1 month time, meaning 10000 words in 1 month. So this is blog will be slightly neglected, I'm really sorry. I will try to blog at least once a week.

My timetable of Death (PhD deadline, papers deadline and JLPT exams)

I have many feedbacks from bloggers, and I even heard there's two blogger from japan coming to town. Yet, they won't be here at the same time. I'm arranging to meet one of them.

Since jamilla left a message to say early September and Westfields are both good (which I totally agree, I love Westfields) so I want a vote:

Do you prefer:

Meeting on the 5 ^th Sept (Saturday) at 4pm

or

12 ^th September (Saturday) at 4pm

The reason why I pick saturday is that most of us should be off work and able to travel and make it. If you come from far away, this should leave you plenty of time to go home as well.

Westfields is good choice as there's free parking for 2 hours, good public transport and tons to have a look (I can spend hours in Boots alone)

There are resturants where they welcome people just getting a drink and sitting down and chat etc... so it is generally good place to be.

I want to make this extra special, and have a little suggestion, if you're into swapping, you're welcome to bring your swap and see if you can swap with others during this meetup. I thought it will help us try some new products without the hassle of posting each other...

Please leave a comment again for your chosen date, i'll set the date in4 days time (meaning everyone hopefully shall leave a comment by 24 ^th) and I'll officially annouce the meetup.

Spread the words!!! All beauty readers and bloggers welcome!

DHC Eye Lash Tonic REVIEW (just for you Ki)

This is one of the items I read in blogs and decided to buy in Japan (but bought in an impulse buying) DHC is one of the very few Japanese brands you can get in UK, and it is all online sales. The best thing is, if you signed up with them, they'll send you a catalogue every 3 months with some samples. Hey who don't like free samples?

My reason for buying this tonic was that I love wearing heavy mascara. I put a base then the mascara and put several layers of it. I HEART long lashes , thick lashes and if there's one make up I must put on, I can even skip foundation and put mascara.

Since I decided to wear a base mascara, it became difficult to take it off at the end of day (I use all MM Mascara), and I felt that the removing process is harming my lashes, so reading some of the reviews, I decided to purchase it myself.

Price:

7GBP or roughly 10 USD

Texture:

No texture, it is just some liquidy gel you put on your lashes

My Praise:

Many people think that the lash tonic is to help you grow lashes, is not! But it helps your lashes to be stronger, so in my case, coz I need something to strengthen my lashes and make it not fall out when I remove my mascara, this is perfect.

My Moan:

Pleaes see the pic below

Do you see a line I put in the pic? And can you see the difference between the upper part of the liner and lower? Yes, I moan. Coz it looks soo unhygienic. The Upper part shows it is contaminated by unknown substance, and I swear the only bit I wipe the wand is my lashes only.

The other part of moan is the brush on the wand. Do you know the texture of a toilet cleaner ?

The brush is soo hard, that if you accidentally swipe the wand closer to your eyes, it hurts. But it is difficult not to swipe close to eye as you try to get the tonic for all your lashes (rather than the end bit like putting on the mascara) so everyday, when I put on some tonic to my lashes, it is a very careful procedure.

1. Face clean

2. Lashes clean

3. Dao dao out

4. window closed

5. no movement in my surrounding area or things I can knock off

Would I buy it?

Porbably not unless they change the texture of the brush. Otherwise it is a good product.

What if I want something to strengthen my lashes?

Try supplements instead. I think it do you good (and your whole body as well) than using the lash tonic..

Big Annoucement, GiveAway, London Bloggers meetup, Love Eve Sales

some sugar paste patterns I made yesterday

I'm back from France, and lots of blogs post will be coming up. But before that, I want to make a few big big annoucement.

Love Eve Beauty Giveaway:

To celebrate the possibly 50 ^th blogger following my blog, i'm going to do a firstever giveaway (and open to internationally) I'm at the moment putting together a giveaway pack, all giveaway prizes will be unused, brand new! Will include some items that I did a review about, if you want, a Dao Dao paw of approval will be added (lol, he's been messing with my foundations recently, think he needs a make over)

a lazy Dao

London Bloggers meet up:

I have been thinking about arranging a meetup to those bloggers who are interested. If anyone wants to meet up, please drop a comment, and i'll try to find a date and annouce a venue for everyone. Most likely to be at Westfields (as it is easy to find a place to chat and play with makeup counters)

Also, to put some glitters to the event, i'll be baking some special cupcakes which I just learnt from faircakelondon

How's Greentea cupcakes, Red Bean cupcake and Dao Dao cupcake (that's sesame cupcake) sounds?

My creation from my cupcake lesson

Love Eve Sales

Yes, Love Eve Sales. I will be putting some of my items up for sales, it is not beauty specific. I am also bringing some items from Hong kong for sale as I wanted to try to help out with the cost of Dao Dao's upbringing... (joking.. but Dao's just got his pet insurance, and holy.. it is most expensive than my monthly astham prescriptions)

A preview of Love Eve Sales:

Elisha Coy Triple BB Cream

Samsonite x Alexander McQueen luggage

My northern England tour

My Northern England tour

Manchester, Liverpool Chester, very northern right? I went to Liverpool for a conference for 1 week and been town/city hopping everyday. I can't simply stay in just Liverpool and must see the others since I drove all the way here. It is a picture very heavy post.

Manchester

went to Manchester after we went to Leeds to visit the University. Mainly to see the Videogame nation for a book preparation (for my HK academic) and more shopping (yes! We love selfridges and big city) so we went to Manchester to have a look what is all about.

the URBIX Building

Is a popular culture museum (I think) and it is rather empty I must say. Where's the crowds?

The videogame nation exhibition at URBIX Manchester, which will last I think until September. You can play every single game console that exist and the very popular games as well. Entrance fee: 2 quid

Enjoying the long forgotten game, yes how old was this game? Must be over 20 years old.

Oh yum! Gaucho in Manchester. Gaucho is a middle class china selling Argentinian steak. Very chic!

The yummy gaucho argentinian steak (marinated for 24 hours)

Liverpool

what else to do in Liverpool other than giving lectures?

Me giving lectures

Chester

Chester is a town where the footballers live. Yes,it is posh town and you can see all the big brands around. Unfortunately we went there as a tourist looking for some Englishness.

Yummy afternoon tea at Chester

A shopping mall in Chester

The clock tower

The Chester town

a random statue?

another random status next to each other

The Cathedral in chester

The riverside

a pagoda

After drink, in a pub in Liverpool

Ahhh! So that's all from me. I'm disappearing again for a Lavendar trip in France. How romantic! See you all next week

BB Cream Series 1: Missha M Perfect Cover

BB Review Series 1: Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream

hmm sorry I didn't have a pic to be taken. I lost my tube in hong kong but hey, been using it for a long time so I can definitely do a review on it.

What makes missha special?

It has the highest SPF overall (SPF 42, PA+++) and it is perhaps one of the most commented BB Cream. If you are new to BB cream, and you have not try Missha, it is hmm most will say must try, I called this as one of the most advanced BB cream as it has the highest coverage as well.

It is very easy to get hold of, just scroll ebay and you'll find tonnes. It is not very expensive and affordable as well.

How much?

6 GPB or around 9USD including shipping from S.Korea

Why did you lost it since you put down all the great things here?

The high coverage bothers me, also the texture.

For me, I want to look natural, and BB Cream should be all-in-one foundation/moisturiser so it is good for lazy people like me. However, because of the coverage, I do look like I have made an effort to put on make up. But I don't want that, I want people to just comment how great my skin looks not 'oh, you put on make up today?' in fact I only put on missha and mascara.

The texture is a bit thick to spread around. Sales in Missha has been recommending to use a sponge, (to avoid the harsh action by spreading by hands) although I feel it is a ploy. If you use a sponge with BB Cream you need to use double the amount. And since it is only a 35ml tube, you'll find yourself popping back to Missha every month to get yourself a tube.

When I use this in UK, there's no oil/greasiness etc, but using this in Hong Kong which is extremely hot and wet, simply I can't even put it on my face at all. My face just hates it

Would you recommend anyone to try it?

If you can manage to get a tube by swapping (which I did) yes, go and get it and try it out yourself. Some girls might need a high coverage and some girls don't. It depends. I think it is more whether the coverage wins you round.

For someone who is looking for a high SPF foundation, I rather recommend getting Anessa sunscreen (which you can put on your face without oil, it was so perfect in Hong kong) and a good foundation, this way you have higher SPF and better coverage and stay for your makeup to last a long day.

On an other note, I have been feeling unfeel and to cheer myself up, I have been making cupcakes.. so this is my very first attempt and i'll be joining a cupcake decoration class. It looks soo good and I hope I'll be able to make the cupcakes for my own wedding (ambitious but not all impossible)

so here's some of the first attempt photos :) all ingredients bought from Waitrose

FOTD: Nil (no make whatsoever)