etude house: baking powder BB Deep Cleansing Foam

I thought the Skin Malgeum toners were my life savers, I really did, and they are a big part of it. But this one also fits the picture. When I bought the toners, I got a few samples of this: Baking Powder Deep Cleansing Foam. I was a bit put off by the idea of rubbing baking powder on my face, and sceptic, because I've had many poor to bad experiences with deep cleansing face wash items. They usually end up drying my skin too much and require me to plaster my face with cream, and that on the other hand just turns it into a shiny field of pimples - in other words, I've figured it was better I steered clear of these things.

But I thought, since the samples were free and all, I could just as well try them out. I like free things, and there were only three packs, so why not? Best face-related decision since buying the Skin Malgeums.

The long name of the product is Baking Powder Pore & BB Deep Cleansing Foam. It's a dye-free foaming face wash designed for cleansing pores and removing make-up - "ideal for BB Cream removal", according to the description. That's what the BB in the name stands for. The product itself doesn't contain blemish balm. The scent is lovely and resembles that of lemon, but the product has no added fragrance, and you only notice the smell when actually sniffing the cream off the tube or your hands, not when applying, so even for those allergic to strong scents it should be just fine (personally, I get a headache from strong scents very easily, and haven't noticed anything with this one).

Applying the cream is very easy; it spreads very easily and comfortably. It turns into thick foam when rubbed. The baking powder can be felt as very small crystals, kind of like salt or sugar in body scrubs. It feels lovely and relaxing. Rinse with warm water and you're done.

What makes this product my favourite face wash ever? Two things. First, it really scrubs off that BB cream and any other make-up you're sporting. Second, it leaves your skin soft as - yes, I'm going to use this metaphor - a baby's butt. Seriously. Even a single wash does this. My cheeks feel wonderfully smooth. One small downside is that it can't be used to remove eye make-up as it should be kept away from eyes.

Major downsides? No. Not a single one. I've used this product for over a month, now, every day. It does require application of a moisturizer afterward to avoid drying, but for me, Skin Malgeum Deep Moist has been enough, so that kind of tells about how little the wash dries the skin on a long run: I'm not using cream nor an oil-based product to moisturize my skin afterward. The smoothness stays, and my skin has grown much more even. The wash treats blemishes well, doesn't scratch skin, and doesn't hurt healing blemishes.

I've personally recommended it to a few friends and everyone has had positive experiences despite their different skin types.

The tube contains 150ml - and lasts ages. To wash your whole face, a blob the size of your pinky nail is enough. When I used the first sample I received I made the mistake of using the whole thing on one go and ended up wasting over half of it; one sample pack was enough for three to four goes. So you can imagine the tube being okay for months and months and months.

Packaging-wise, the tube is really cute with its cream-and-baby blue scheme. It doesn't come in a box, but instead well wrapped in plastic (no fear of it opening in the mail).

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product: Etude House Baking Powder B.B Deep Cleansing Foam
does what: deep cleansing face wash / make-up and BB remover
price range: $10 - $20
points given: 10/10
short story: Excellent face wash and make-up remover. Smoothens skin and treats pores without excessive drying.

etude house: make up guides & beauty book

I hope you've enjoyed my writings so far and I promise more reviews in the future.

This update is to promote a series of make up guide videos by Etude House, viewable at their official site, and the "beauty book" feature of the site. I came across them a while back while browsing the site for some items, and figured it'd be nice to share, because I for one was not familiar with any of it before.

The tutorials are simple guide videos utilizing various Etude House products. In every video, there's both a visual guide on a pro make up artist applying stuff on a person, and a written guide alongside the film; the guide is in Korean.

At the bottom of every page you also find a list of the products used per tutorial. As the tutorial goes on the written guide features small pictures of the products so even if you don't know Korean, you can match the pictures to find the products. A bit of a hassle, of course, but manageable if you're really interested to find out whatever the products are. Most of the tutorials seem quite basic, though, so it's pretty easy to figure out what the products of each stage are for.

The "beauty book" feature is an e-book sort of a magazine readable at the Etude House website at the link above. It actually has parts that are translated to English. Generally it features anything a fashion- and- make up magazine would, including fresh styles and ideas on various combinations, make up, tutorials, and so on. Currently, there are 6 volumes, and more to come, and what's good is that it's all free!

etude house: dear my blooming lips talk lipstick

Thank you so much for all the visits to this blog, I'm really happy if my obsession writings turn out helpful to anyone contemplating buying these products. :) If you ever have any questions, please don't hesitate leaving comments or emailing me!

I'm actually not a lipstick person, but cosmetic-love.com happens to have a Kiss Note event going on: buy two Dear My Blooming Lips Talk lipsticks, get a free Kiss Note just like the one Dara sports in the CFs. Love it. One can't own too many cute hardcover notebooks with silly little hearts and stuff on the rosy pink pages. It's so girly it would hurt if I hadn't melted away looking at the few promotional pictures of SHINee and Dara first.

Where was I? Lipstick.

So, defying my usual non-lipstick self I bought two shades: OR208 (in the picture) and PK005. There are 24 shades that are divided into four sets of colors - orange, pink, red, and... BE, which I guess stands for beige or something alike. There's 8 shades of pink and orange, and four of the other two. As far as color goes, don't be taken aback by the "orange" line. It's not orange like the fruit, really, out of the eight shades only two actually look very orange. When applied, OR208 looks peach rather than orange.

Now, when it comes to the colors, that's all I can really say. I've got a peachy, pale skin tone and pink lips so these two shades are the most natural for me, according to a friend, but obviously it varies with every person. And since these are literally my first lipsticks (of course, not including my mum's make-up I used to plaster from ear to ear as a 4-year-old, gee) I'm not very good at giving advice on how to pick lipstick shades.

Natural to Etude House, Dear My Blooming Lips Talk lipsticks come packed well and cutely in tiny boxes decorated with hearts and product information, also in English. According to the package, the "smooth textured lipstick supplies vivid color and moist shine." As you can see in the picture, the lipstick itself is absolutely adorably packed as well: the shiny pink plastic container protects the stick extremely well, and the stick actually has the heart logo engraved on the side. The container has a cute plastic ribbon on the side as well. It's all top-notch and for a 12-something dollar lipstick it looks really, really fancy and expensive.

I don't know how lipstick usually smells like if anything, but Dear My Blooming Lips Talk doesn't have an overpowering, irritating scent. When applied, one doesn't really pick up the scent at all.

It's very easy to apply, no need to press or rub it; the lipstick spreads on easily on one go. As far as the moist shine the description promises goes, don't expect any lipgloss kind of a result. The shine is very natural, not glittery. It doesn't feel sticky and I haven't had my hair stuck on my lips once during the past two weeks. I can't say as positive things about the "moist", though. Every description I've read about the product promises that your lips won't chip, but when I get home in the evening, my lips are just as dry as they would without the lipstick. It could be I don't apply enough to achieve these "moist and kissable lips" (quote from cosmetic-love.com), but I definitely agree on the "clean and vivid".

I guess one of the things lipstick wearers are the most concerned about is whether it comes off fast or not. I'm an excessive coffee consumer, and I've found it extremely easy to tell my mug apart from the rest now because of the pink stains on the edge. So, yes, the lipstick does come off in small amounts, but it's relatively waterproof: requires rubbing to fully come off. Even if I have a full meal during the day and won't apply any more afterward, the color is visible when I get back home, but for that vivid, fresh look, one does need to apply a new coat after eating. It doesn't stick to teeth, though.

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product: Etude House Dear My Blooming Lips Talk lipstick
does what: lipstick
price range: $10 - $20
points given: 7/10
short story: A wide range of vivid colors to choose from. Easy to apply and stays on relatively okay, but doesn't moisturize lips as much as expected.