November 2015 Empties/Mini Reviews

Hi guys!!

Two posts in one day =D Haha reason why I'm so productive today is actually because I caught a cold -_- Just trying to stay out of the cold and away from people lol. Oh good news guys =) I passed both of my licensing exams!! =DD right now just waiting for the Board to issue me my license. Decided to put aside job applications for a while because it's almost impossible to apply for a position without my license. I was hoping some places might be willing to train me while I wait, but nope! lol. Anyway, since I'm just staying home and sneezing and coughing and trying to keep my head from exploding... figured might as well catch up on some blogging. I know it's only mid-November but I figured I already accumulated enough crap to talk about XD


1. Bumble and bumble thickening shampoo and conditioner samples 

In general I would never go for high end conditioners, cuz I really feel like they don't make that much of a difference (since I only apply conditioner from the mid to ends of my hair it doesn't touch my scalp at all). This conditioner is no exception... didn't do much. I liked the shampoo though! My hair does feel more fluffy/voluminous when I use this. I got the travel size to play with, but I don't think I'd ever go for the full-size... too expensive for how much you get.

2. Perfect Whip cleanser

Don't think you can go wrong with Shiseido products lol. I think I went through 2 or 3 of these??? It's cheap and cheerful and does the job. Probably won't repurchase in a long time cuz right now my favorite drugstore facial cleanser is the Innisfree volcanic one, and I haven't got sick of that one yet so I'm gonna stick with that =D


I did good didn't I? haha. Sorry it looks kind of nasty.

2. Fasio mascara and Integrate mascara primer

Talked about these two here. Thoughts did not change so you can just refer to that if you're interested =)

Here's what the wands look like since I didn't show them in that post:





Very very fat wand lol.

Will I repurchase?

Well I don't have access to either, so nope! Haha. If you can try them at a reasonable price I would say you could give them a try. I haven't tried any mascara primer that tops the Majolica one. If I have access to the mascara I wouldn't mind picking the black one up. I like how the formula is very thickening, somewhat lengthening, yet it does not contain any fibers. That gets a thumbs up from me!


3. Yes To Grapefruit Body Wash

I like =) currently using up a LUSH soap that I got a while ago, as well as my Jo Malone body/hand soap that I got in a Nordstrom anniversary sale set, but once I finished those I will probably get something from Yes To.... unless something else really catches my eye.


4. Clinique Repairwear Lase Focus



I've never used an eye cream that made me feel a significant difference. So... I'll leave it at that. I was actually gonna purchase the full size of this but I got a Shiseido one instead cuz I wanted free shipping LOL. But I might revisit this product.


5. Innisfree Manuka Honey mask, My Beauty Diary Arbutin Whitening mask, Naruko mask





Kind of forgot about my sheet masks but pulled them out for extra hydration/whitening since the sun in Cali was pretty brutal in the summer. I enjoyed them all but none of them stood out to me. I used to really like the MBD arbutin one but I think they changed the sheet material and formula so now I'm more ambivalent.


6. Aveda Lip Saver



The last of my backup. Used to be my favorite lip balm but I'm happy with Lucas' Papaw Ointment and that one is MUCH cheaper lol.

7.

Another mask


8.

You guys sick of seeing this? haha


9. L'occitane Almond Shower Oil


Talked about it here:

I can sum up how I feel about this shower oil in two words: OH BABY. 😍😂 in all seriousness though, this thing is so nice! More worth it than LUSH bath products IMO 😂. First of all... It smells absolutely DIVINE. Second of all, leaves my skin feeling moisturized with absolutely no residue/greasy feeling 😄 I guess the only sad thing is that this is not a little-goes-a-long-way product... I would imagine if you're tall you'll probably run out of this product quickly? 😂 #loccitane #amande #showeroil #sephora #review #instareview #beautyblogger #bblogger #blogger

A photo posted by Frances (@bbudgie) on Sep 22, 2015 at 3:49pm PDT

It's nice if you want to pamper yourself... but I can do without it =D


10. Aveda Scalp Benefit Balancing Shampoo

Of all the Aveda shampoos I've tried, this one definitely feels the most drying to the scalp (think super deep clease). I wouldn't say it's stripping, but it's not a shampoo I would use daily. I did use it daily for a week and my scalp felt fine, but I prefer using it once a week as a deep cleanse. I actually purchased a 1L bottle of this and kind of regretted it... should've just got a small bottle for weekly use.


11. St. Ives Blemish Control apricot scrub

Sorry it looks nasty. I prefer the green tea scrub. The beads in this one are a lot bigger/rougher than the green tea one. I also used this on my body because there was just no way I could get through this if I used this exclusively on my face lol. Won't repurchase. Although I thought it was quite good as a body scrub XD


12. Belif The True Cream Moisturizing Bomb

Got this free sample size from Sephora. It's pretty good-- I think a lot of ppl would like the consistency and the formula of this. Even though I really liked it, I personally don't feel any different when I used this vs. using Cetaphil moisturizing lotion lol. Not interested in purchasing the full size.


13. Majolica Majorca Lash Expander Edge Meister

Reviewed here. Pretty sure I talked about this in one of my empties. Anyway, I have a lot of these but they aren't my favorite. When it dries out as you use it, it gets very clumpy because it has SO MUCH fibers in it. And I always have to make sure to use a tweezer to pull out any of the fibers sticking out so they won't poke my eyes. Also because of the high fiber content, it does dry out faster than other mascaras.


Hope you guys enjoyed =)

<3 Frances

Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra 24H Foundation Review

Hello fellow makeup lovers!

Doing a review on an old foundation... hope you guys don't mind. Got a question about how I matched myself  to this foundation, so while I was at Sephora the other day, I remembered to rematch myself...  just to make sure the shade I listed on My Beauty Information is still up-to-date =D figured might as well get a sample and do a review while I'm at it. Some foundations I listed there don't have a dedicated post... probably because I was just too busy to take photos/do reviews before the samples dried out... or just wasn't anything special (translation: not amazing, but also not to the point I wanted to come here and make a statement to warn the public HAHAHA).



I tried out Teint Idole Ultra years ago when it first came out... ppl were saying it's the best liquid foundation for oily girls. I can't really remember why I was underwhelmed by the foundation at that time... this time around, I think it's good, but still not something I want to put on my wishlist lol.

They were running out of the tester for this shade, but it was enough for me to rematch myself so no biggie hahah.  

I feel like for NC20-25 (leaning closer to NC20), there really isn't a perfect match. Among all the shades I tried, I still think 310 Bisque C works the best. On Sephora, it's described as "For medium-light to medium skin with cool/pink undertones". And I agree, it does lean orange-pink. Tried 320 Bisque W but it was too dark. Tried various shades from the 200s range and none of them looked right-- from reading the descriptions, you would think something along 230, 250 and 260 could work, but eh... not really. Anyway, can't speak for others, but for myself, can't find a perfect match for Teint Idole Ultra. If this shade comes with yellow tones it would've been perfect.
 



Like I mentioned before... my new place doesn't really have good sunlight, and the day I took these photos it was rather gloomy so I had to turn on the ceiling light, which was rather yellow/orange. I did try to take the pictures close to the window, but just bear that in mind.



Leans orange-pink










Just took multiple photos... hopefully they'll help you guys gauge the color/undertones of this shade better.





From this pic, you can really tell it's quite orange-pink.












Bare face, with Diorsnow sunscreen as my base. 







At that time still struggling with this bad boy haha. I actually realized it wasn't because I was vitamin B deficient O_O will talk about it more at the end of the post.


As you guys can see from the swatches, Bisque 300 C does lean orange-pink. I generally apply a very thin layer when it comes to foundations, so I think that's why I was able to pull it off. Keep in mind if you need a lot of coverage/prefer a heavy hand, this shade might not work on you.

I used a wet BeautyBlender. Didn't crop out the pics as much as I normally do because wanted to show you the yellow/orange lighting in my room (took the pics in front of the window). Also made an effort to show my neck so you guys can see the color difference.


Face is a bit pink/orange compared to neck, but not too bad.










Yellow/orange lighting galore. Think I did pretty good capturing the pics under sunlight aside from this pic haha.






Had some dryness/flaky skin going on that day on my nose, but the foundation actually didn't cling to it too badly. Definitely looks better in the photo, in person it's a little bit more noticeable than this but not that bad.


Overall effect

I had to climb on my table to stand right in front of the window just to get the best natural light... hahaha. If a neighbor poked his/her head out of the window they'd probably be like... what she doing HAHAH. Things we do for blogging.






Keep in mind if you like heavy coverage... you probably will look a lot more orange-pink than this...














The flakiness close-up. Don't normally wear liquid foundations when I have flaky skin but I just didn't care that day hahaha.










About 5 hours later

Would I say I feel less oily compared to other liquid foundations? Uhhh maybe just a little? I think in terms of oil control MUFF Mat Velvet+ does a better job. But the finish of that foundation is also a lot more matte.






Not bad! Considering my skin wasn't the smoothest that day, I'd say this foundation did pretty good.




The corner of my mouth got REALLY dry at the end of the day... not the foundation's fault. Probably wouldn't have looked as noticeable if I wasn't wearing a foundation... This thing did get worse after I did my review on the Too Faced Born this Way foundation, so I really don't blame this founation.





My conclusion?

Like I said at the beginning of the post... it's good, but I just feel like it's one of those foundations that is good, but nothing extra special. I just prefer something that is a bit more creamy so it sticks to the skin better. MUFF Mat Velvet+ is an exception-- it's not creamy but it sticks to the skin pretty well. At least it never gives me that feeling that it's about to separate when I get oily. Overall, good, but I wouldn't pay $46.50 for it.


So back to my "mouth" issue. Not exactly sure what to call it, cuz it's not eczema/atopic dermatitis even though it looks like one. So I started noticing dryness on the corner my mouth and eventually it started to crack... so painful T_T At first I thought it was because I was vitamin B deficient... but I realized that wasn't it cuz I eat plenty of whole grains and vegetables. Actually even started to take supplements but it did NOT help so that's when I figured I was going about it the wrong way. Tried hydrocortisone-- it got better for a day or two but then it got worse... so then I knew it wasn't just an inflammation issue... hydrocortisone may have helped with the symptoms but it didn't cure the root of the problem. So I started using coconut oil, even got a few face oil samples from Sephora hoping it would help. NOTHING helped. I really didn't understand what was going on because I thought I ate a very well balanced diet and I was trying every skin care that I thought might help. Then after about two weeks I started craving peanut butter out of nowhere LOL. Then I realized... I was lacking fats!!!! O_O I've been mostly eating oatmeal/breads/salads/soups just for the convenience and I had plenty of grains, fiber and protein in my diet, but I really wasn't eating enough fat. Anyway, I made a point to eat some peanut butter every day for about 3 days and it already got SO MUCH better lol. It's been about a week and now all that's left is a little bit of dryness... all the cracking has healed. So ladies and gentlemen... moral of the story... always check your diet if you have skin problems. Sometimes skincare/medications might provide a quick and temporary fix, but if you want to fix the problem... you really gotta look at the whole picture. A while ago I was on a super clean diet (mostly raw food... I mean yes I cook my meat and stuff but I just ate a lot more raw greens as opposed to pan-fry them) and my skin had never looked better. Didn't stick with that diet cuz that only works when the weather is warm LOL. Anyway, hope my little experience will help someone if you're struggling with some skin problems.

And of course, hope this post helps those who are struggling to color match for this foundation.

Have a lovely week =)



<3 Frances