Givenchy Airy-Light Mat Radiance Foundation Swatches

Hello guys ^_^

So today I bring you this swatches post :D sometimes I question myself what's the point of posting this kind of swatch post when it includes no thoughts/review -_-a oh well. I WILL come back to give a detailed review... some day XD



I will say though, at this point I do like this foundation enough that I won't mind purchasing the whole bottle (but that probably won't happen in a long long time as I'm working on 2 other liquid foundations... not to mention BB creams and foundation powders TAT) Although recently I also tried the Bobbi Brown Stick Foundation and was pretty impressed with that too -__- TEMPTATIONS NEED TO BE GONE (Or I should just stay away from Sephora).

Okay, here goes the swatches---

I will say the unusual thing about this Givenchy foundation is that although it leans orange (like most European cosmetics), it's a pink orange. You can tell from these two pictures that this particular shade, 3 Mat Sand, it has a subtle pinky quality about it.


Mat 3 Sand is described as "for light complexions with neutral undertones". While it is noticeably pink, I do think that Givenchy did a good job of keeping this shade looking neutral rather than pink. The pink in this foundation gives a brightening effect, rather than turning the foundation pink. The consistency of this foundation is pretty light but not very runny.

Blended out

Hahahaha yeah don't ask me... I was like where is the swatch when I first looked at this photo too...

Here's a better-focused picture:





Not sure if you can tell the pinky glow from this foundation (was very hard to capture as the pink is very subtle), despite it being a matte foundation. I honestly think most matte foundations these days are so gorgeous and are not any less natural than dewy/glowy foundations.


Naked face time!

I have to admit my skin looks pretty darn good in this pic... but it's only because I happened to have cleared out my blackheads a few days prior to this photo AHAHA. Otherwise my skin normally doesn't look so spotless.

close up:





Alrighty-- half face application

Ahhh... what can I say... there are so many natural, gorgeous looking foundations on the market these days >_< Seriously. So many liquid foundations give you that your skin but much better look these days. The only difference being how well they wear throughout the day. The coverage is light to medium.


The pinkiness of this foundation counters the sallowness of my complexion quite nicely, don't you think?






Full face application:








Ok... swatches done XD Now comes the awkward ending: I shall come back and update my thoughts on this foundation ROFLOLOLOL.

Laters ^_^

<3 Frances

Excited for Marc Jacobs' Makeup Collection ^_^

Hi guys!

Just a quick post today XD Most of you probably already saw the announcement from Sephora's e-mail a while ago, but I only checked my e-mail account that's reserved for memberships/ads recently XD Being a fan of Marc Jacob's perfumes and hand bags (it is my ambition to own one when I'm fully independent lolol), I was super excited when I saw that Marc Jacobs is releasing his own makeup line!

Suuuuuper duper excited! I read somewhere that it's gonna be a very bold collection because Marc Jacobs is a fan of colors.

Of course the most exciting thing for me is this...

LOL. For some reason I am extra excited to smell this foundation! I don't know why but I think it's going to smell amazing LOL. Although I'm not a fan of gel foundation at all... I normally find gel foundation especially unsuitable for flakiness and combination skin.

Even though I'm excited for the release but I don't think I will be jumping the gun; I simply have too many foundations. And I want to wait to see what other ppl say (especially I don't think these will be available in stores?? Not sure if they're online exclusives????) and if I do want to purchase something, of course I will wait for the friends and family sale XD

What do you guys think? Are you excited about Marc Jacobs makeup? Ambivalent?

Oh by the way, I am currently home in Taiwan XD but my vacation is coming to an end. I didn't announce it since I'm a terrible blogger anyway so I didn't think it'd make a difference LOL!! I will have something up soon :D  Hope you guys are having a fantastic summer! ^_^





<3 Frances

TonyMoly Luminous Pure Aura CC Cream Review

Hello guys!

Today I have my very first CC cream review =D I just used some of the pics from an old post... too lazy to snap new photos XD


CC cream stands for "Color Correcting" cream, or "Color Control" cream. Honestly to me, it's just a marketing thing... the whole thing about it treating skin discoloration/unevenness is all whatever to me... Not that I think it doesn't work, but it's just nothing new. For me, it is no different than what BB cream is already doing-- most Korean BB creams contain whitening properties, so they already serve the purpose of correcting discoloration in my opinion. Anyway, that's just my opinion from my very limited exposure to CC creams. From my research though, it looks like CC creams have less coverage and are generally lighter than BB creams. A lot of people say it's more like a primer than anything.


I'm not sure if all CC creams come out white, but the TonyMoly one does.


It changes color while blending.


It adjusts to fit my skin tone really well. Although I'm not sure if it's going to be too light for dark-skinned people. From some reviews I read they state that it is indeed too light and gives a white cast.

Naked face action

Lol one of those days when you just wake up with super red face -_- what are you gonna do about it ╮(￣▽￣)╭ Thank god for makeup ahahaha.


After 5 minutes the redness of my skin kind of subsided lol. I think it's because that first pic was taken right after I applied my moisturizer/sun screen???

Application in process~

I usually prefer using my fingers for BB/CC cream application. Excuse my freak show face haha


Half face blended out.


1. THE GLOW 2. makes skin look a bit smoother.

Full face blended out





It does even out the skin tone to some extent... but as you can tell the coverage is really sheer. It's not that noticeable in these pics but there's still some redness peaking through.

Full face effect:

I made the mistake of choosing a red lip color when just wearing this CC cream... I feel like because the redness in my complexion isn't completely evened out, adding more red color to my face isn't flattering... despite it kind of evening out/brightening my complexion, I still look quite tired. You will also notice this CC cream has no effect/coverage on my under eye dark circles.



From afar:

You can definitely see this CC cream does not improve the looks of my dark circles at all.


looks better in this pic but it's just the angle.


Under bright sunlight. Honestly everything looks good in bright sunlight so this pic counts for nothing XD


This was the CC cream plus a very light layer of powder foundation. Shame you guys can't really tell the difference from the pics -_-a...

My final thoughts on this CC cream:

I prefer to wear this with my powder foundation (very sheer layer of CC cream plus very little powder foundation). I know you guys can't really tell from these pics, but redness being my personal biggest insecurity, I really don't like it when any kind of redness shows through. For that reason, this CC cream when used alone is simply not enough for me. But I do love the effect of it when it's combined with powder foundation. The combination is surprisingly very long-lasting... and I don't look oily at all at the end of the day (this CC cream does NOT make me extra oily. Definitely a plus!)

The coverage of this CC cream is truly sheer, therefore if you have problematic skin (or even if you just have redness), be prepared that you will need to use some other products for more coverage. I agree with others saying that this CC cream feels more like a primer. But honestly I think you can achieve the same effect with a very sheer layer of BB cream+ powder....

So my final verdict is, I do like it when it's used with powder foundation. However, it's not something I will run out to buy. I am glad I've tried it but I will not be paying full price for it (nor do I have any desire to own the full bottle). As for the skincare benefits... I honestly haven't used it consistently enough to tell any difference. If I do I will come back and update it.


Hope this review helped someone out there! What are your thoughts on CC creams?
PS: I thought Google reader was supposed to stop working in July?? Why is mine still working O_o


<3 Frances

Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation Review (updated)

Hi guys!

Two years ago I wrote a review on the Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua foundation (see it here). And I'm really glad to come back and do an updated review =D Because this time I have much better swatches muahahah!!! XD (last time it was using yellow lighting =_=).



Ingredients:

It kind of annoys me that Chanel still uses parabens in their products... like really??? Chanel???



So originally, I purchased the shade Beige 20 because I thought I'd still be the same shade -_-a



Beige 20 and Beige 10 aren't too drastically different, but B20 definitely leans more MAC NC25-30, especially after it oxidizes (these pictures aren't showing when the foundation is fully oxidized). And as you might notice (hard to tell in this pic), it leans more orange than yellow or neutral.












So much darker after it oxidizes -_-"

Here comes naked face!

Gawd I hate this angle of myself XD why do I look SO yellow and sallow in this pic =_= looks like I have jaundice or something (minus yellow eye whites of course ahaha).



Half face application




Full face application:

Applied with fingers. Best application in my opinion is really working it in to your skin. I've tried really buffing the foundation with my trustworthy Sigma flat top kabuki brush, but I noticed the foundation tend to crease more easily when I use a brush.




So this is the initial finish.

This was taken after about 30min-1 hour (no powder)

Can you guys tell the foundation has gotten so much darker?


As a matter of fact, a little darker than my natural complexion. But I am anticipating to get a bit darker over the summer so I guess it's okay. The foundation looks even more skin-like now (which you prob can't tell apart from the previous pics).

So what are my updated thoughts on this foundation?

First of all, I have to regrettably inform you guys that I made a HUGE mistake by purchasing this foundation as my summer foundation. Yes it feels light and that's great, but I neglected the fact that this foundation is water-based... it slips and slide so easily (powder is a MUST). Most of the time if I use the tiniest amount, it fares quite well. But if you try to build up on coverage with this foundation, it most likely will not look good at the end of the day (especially if you're combination or oily skin. I'd say oily skin don't even try!) I think the best way I could put it is that this foundation does NOT wear gracefully under hot climate/with combination skin. Also if you try to build it up, it tends to crease with my expression lines (even with powder), so make sure you use very little! The last time I tried this foundation it was early spring in Colorado (which usually is still snowing at that time of the year) so I had no chance of experiencing this problem =/

Other than that, my general thoughts pretty much haven't changed since the last time I used it. It's a great foundation that's worth checking out-- super super natural. At that time I remember I didn't want to purchase it because I was determined to find a perfect foundation that lasts all day (as in won't get shiny or anything =_=) of course later I realized that was completely unrealistic. Haha. But sadly I pretty much haven't really touched this foundation because it just isn't the best for the summer (now I have two winter liquid foundations.... -_-||) The other major downfall of this foundation is how it oxidizes and the color (leans orange-- I prefer foundations that lean yellow because my face is naturally quite pink/red, whereas my body is yellow). I'm also kind of weary about the shade since now I'll probably use this in the winter and it might be too dark for me. By the way, this foundation will not be ideal for flaky skin because you have to work it in and it will accentuate any dry patches like crazy.

On a random note, since both Chanel Vitalumiere aqua and YSL Touche Eclat both have such gorgeous and natural finishes, I might do a comparison post in the future ^_^ (they are completely different in texture).

That's all I have =) Hope you guys found this updated review helpful!