No-frills Makeup

Hi, all!

This BB cream is from my collective Korea haul, but this product is available in Sg too (SGD32.90 @ Wisma Atria). Holika Holika in Korean basically means beauty-holic - repeated twice. I realized HH products have really high SPF levels, which can both be a good and bad thing. And their products are sweet-smelling. If you can't tolerate scented cosmetics, then skip Holika Holika products. I personally love the smell actually!

I'm wearing both the BB cream & the blush cream provided. FYI: BB creams work best with cream blushers as both are of creamy consistency therefore 'stick' on each other longer, and better, without 'sliding' off.

With flash:

No flash:

Pros:

• SPF 37 PA ++ is really high, so you can safely skip your sunblock
• Great coverage for pores & redness on face (sore skin and mild pimples)
• Dries down to a lightweight, smooth dewy finish
• Good lasting power (6-7 hours) with powdering of face
• Comes with a universally flattering peach lip/cheek cream with a mirror too - super pigmented, by the way ;)
• Easy squeeze tube that you won't oversqueeze!

Cons:

• High SPF means its not ideal for flash photography (visible white cast) - noticeable in my pictures above taken with flash. I must say, though, it gets much better after the BB cream oxidizes after an hour or so.
• Moisturizing properties might not be suitable for people with very oily skin
• Sweet scent may put off some people
• Cream cheek/lip colour is too drying to be used on lips, but works perfectly on cheeks!

After a day out (7 hours), touched up with pressed powder twice throughout the day

Overall, I feel this is a good BB cream to have on days which I feel I need the extra lightweight feel. It doesn't make my face feel sweaty - and trust me, I sweat a lot on my face, so that says a lot! That's a reason why I don't like liquid foundations :p I won't say it's a product you should go running in the stores to buy, but if lightweight + dewy are what you're looking for, then you should give this a go :)

While going trigger happy buying all the beauty products in Korea, I thought I should share some love with my readers too! It ain't much, but these are the stuff that particularly caught my attention. So I hope the lucky winner will adore them too:)

From Etude House: Pomegranate Face Mask, False Eyelash (Volume), Two Nail Polishes & Oh! My Eye Lash Mascara (Volume)

From Holika Holika: Petit BB Cream (Watery) 

(My cute soft toy keychain is there for photography purposes only, hehe. Not included in giveaway!)

This BB Cream is quite a hit in Sg, so I grabbed it for anyone who wants to try. I know Charlene ever reviewed on this BB cream range, you can read her entries here.

I personally love these muted purple & tea rose shades!

To participate, you just need to be a follower of my blog! Comment below & type "I WANT IT!" along with your name, blog & email address. Just like so:-

I WANT IT!

Name:

Blog url:

Email address: 

This giveaway closes this Sunday, 21st August at midnight. Winner will be picked by Random.org & announced the following day. I will post out the goodies to you. Good luck!

Edit: Oh I forgot to add! You can enter once a day till Sunday! Sorry for that missing information.

Before I go on, I apologise for the glaring flash on some photos cos I took the pictures at night. I always wanna make it a point to take good photographs! But I've been so busy in the afternoons :(

So, these are the humble buys I brought over from my Korea Summer Abroad trip! It's seriously not many, considering I was in the birthplace of cosmetics & beauty. I only bought stuff that I know I would wear. I won't be providing swatches/reviews in this entry cos there's too many products at one shot. I'll just be mainly listing down the product names, most of which are from Holika Holika, Tony Moly & Etude House.

• Cosmetics:

L-R: Holika Holika Peach Girl BB Cream, Holika Holika Baby Bloom Base, Skin Food Salmon Dark Circle Concealer, Holika Holika Pressed Powder, The Face Shop Face it Mascara, Etude House Oh~ my Eye Lash mascara, Tony Moly Lip Tint, Etude House Proof 10 Aqua Tint & Tony Moly Party Lover Liquid Eyeliner

• Skin Care:

 L-R: Tony Moly Appletox Smooth Massage Peeling Cream, Tony Moly Tomato Brightening Mask & Laneige Water Sleeping Pack

• Hair Care:

 

L-R: Missha Procure Silky Coating Hair Essence & Skin Food Applemango Volume Essence Mist

I bought a lot of nail polishes too, but I'll feature them along as I have them on my nails. I don't have the patience to do the countless swatching and then removing :O 

I am pretty sure almost all of these products are available in Singapore too, albeit the much steeper prices! I've been loving and religiously using some of these products. I will post another entry on my daily base makeup using some of these stuff. I won't be reviewing/swatching on every single one though, unless I really have something to say about it, or if any one of you request for it! :)

And a couple of nail designs I was doing while bored in my dorm abroad!

This nude, malt colour (Etude House) looks nice on its own, doesn't it?

But look at this! Intricate flower stickers from EH as well. I am not sure if these stickers are available in Sg though.

Slanted yellow manicured tip with flower details

Thanks for browsing, catch you guys soon! ♥

Hi lovelies,

Gosh my last post was about two months ago! I was facing some technical glitch with OnSugar so I couldn't post entries. There's so many unposted entries in my drafts, but I don't feel like posting them up now cos they are so backdated. Well, just an update on my personal life:-

• I am sooo done with college! I've yet to have my convocation ceremony & all that glitz, but yes, I have graduated with a Degree in Communications. Feels pretty swell to have the word "under" scraped off from Undergraduate ;)

• Spent my last semester abroad in a university in Seoul, South Korea. I came back about two weeks ago. You may have seen pictures on my FaceBook :) Hands down, it was the best Summer of my life and it didn't even feel like school cos I only have three hours of class everyday. Felt more like a grad trip, in fact!

Love the culture, the people, the city & of course, shopping! Korea is the house brand of many cosmetic names we're familiar with in Singapore. Nature Republic, Etude House, The Face Shop, Tony Moly, Holika Holika and Skin Food, just to name a few. Previously, I thought some of these brands were from Japan (yes, blame it on my nonchalance hehe)! So most of the cosmetics there are 3-5x cheaper. I actually regretted not buying more for myself cos I was afraid my baggage will overload :/  

I'll post photos of my humble buys in another entry & keep posted cos I have a Korean Loot to giveaway!

For now, I shall post a few photos of my Summer in Seoul:-

Seodaemun Prison Museum

Namsan Tower where lovers entwine their locks (those are thousands of locks behind us!)

DMZ tour at the 38th parallel between N and S Korea

With my close Korean friend, Jay, at Everland Themepark

We took the steepest rollercoaster ride in the world there (4 min ride)! Check out the crazy plunge at the extreme right of the track.

With my professor from Princeton Uni and my good friend in class (it wasn't all play hehe)

The beautiful campus and my sweet friend

And the crazy night life there!

Thanks for browsing through. Talk to you soon, lovelies! Annyeong!