Benefits They're Real Mascara Review

Hi everyone, today I will be reviewing Benefit's They're Real Mascara. I'm sure everyone has heard of this mascara before as it is suppose to be the #1 Best Selling Mascara in the World (according to the box). 

I know many people, including my friends, love this mascara so for the longest time I wanted to try it. However, it is definitely expensive. It retails for $31 CDN + tax. Out of the many mascaras that I've tried, only two of them have been able to satisfy me. 

My eyelashes are extremely short, sparse, and straight. It's really difficult to achieve the results that I want (visible fanned up lashes) without the aid of my trusty mascara primer (Majorica Majolica Lash Bone Base). 

The two mascaras that have worked for me so far are Majorica Majolica Lash Expander (my #1 favorite) and Kiss Me Long and Curl Mascara.

Performance:

 eyelashes for reference.

Benefit's They're real mascara's formula is quite dry and waxy. The comb is the plastic kind with very sparse spikes. It coats my eyelashes quite evenly. However, the tip of the comb does have a heavy amount of product, which when it does touch my eyelashes, lash clumps of the product attaches to my eyelashes which then needs to be brushed out. Because it is so dry and waxy, the product doesn't smudge all over my eyelids during application. The thin straight brush is easy to work with. Be careful not to poke your eyes with the spikes. I tend to poke my eyes quite often when I'm trying to reach my bottom lashes which is natural I guess since they're so short and sparse.

They're Real Mascara lengthens and volumizes my eyelashes while keeping them decently clump free after two - three coats. I think with this kind of sparsh spiked brush, it'll be difficult to clump the mascara. After three coats, I notice that the mascara does weigh down my eyelashes a bit. After I re-curl my eyelashes with my Shu Uermura eyelash curler, it stays up. 

One coat of mascara on top of my Majolica Majorica Lash Bone really helps hold the curl up and lengthens even more but more than two coats of mascara on top of the primer, my eyelashes start to look a bit clumpy.

Removal:

It is really easy to take off as well, which I cannot say for the Japanese mascaras. I just press a cotton pad soaked in makeup remover to my eye for ten seconds and a majority of this mascara will come off. No tugging, no rubbing.

What I Love About It:

- lengthens decently

- volumizes nicely

- remains clump free - unless you touch it with the ends of the wand

- smudge resistant

- more acessible around the world

- easy to remove.

What I Don't Like About It:

- expensive

- weighs down my eyelashes a noticeble bit

- doesn't lengthen my eyelashes as much as the Majolica Majorica or Heroine Make mascaras (which are cheaper).

For the price of $31 CDN + tax, I can't justify the purchase of this mascara for the results it gave me. Although it has given me one of the best results any western mascara has given me, I will stick to my Japanese mascaras for now. They're 2/3 of the price of the benefits mascara and gives me the results that I want. It's still a really nice mascara that performs well and does a nice job. 

1 comment benefits, high end, mascara, review, western

Recent Interest: Crazy IPad Editing

Recently, I've developed a hobby for photo editing. These are some of my most favorite pictures. If you'd like to see more feel free to follow me on instagram. My instagram id is: chrissieblogs  ^^

Heywha, Seoul, Korea

Gwanghwamun, Seoul, Korea

Insadong, Seoul, Korea

Leave a Comment art, creative, gwanghwamun, heywha, hobby, insadong, Korea, pictures, Seoul, tour, travel, traveling

Etude House Aloha V-Line Slim Maker Review

It took me a long time to realize that not all bronzers are orange. I had encounter so many orangey bronzers in the western drugstores that I had almost given up. I heard a lot of good reviews on NYC's sunny and I have that but for some reason it had always look a bit orangey on my skin tone.

After living in Korea for some time, I decide to venture back into the bronzer field and find myself a good bronzer. I've heard a lot of good things about the Etude House Aloha V-Line Slim Maker.

The Aloha V-Line Maker is a bronzer and highlight duo. There are two choices: #1 Sun Gold / Wood Brown and #2 Sun Pink / Cherry Brown.

  I picked up #2 because #1 seemed like it is more suited towards darker skin and the highlight of #2 was definitely more flattering on my skin when I switched it in stores. 

Isn't the print so gorgeous? 

This picture can be found on packaging. It illustrates a sad square shaped face turning into a happy v-line face. It's kind of cute but don't expect this kind of dramatic result using only this duo! That would be impossible.

In case you are not familiar with the term V-Line, it basically means having a slim v-shaped chin. Having a v-line is something many Korean girls want. It's very appealing in Korean society, just like double eyelids, being fair and bright in coloring, having a tall nose and so on.

Here you can see the happy model contouring. In the After picture, you can see her v-line chin is more prominent. Keep in mind, her face angling is also more to the side compared to the Before picture.

Performance

#2 Sun Pink is a really rosy highlight with nice sheen. It is very pigmented so you'll want to be careful and not over apply. I usually just tap my brush lightly on the product before applying it to my face so that I have more control over the highlight.  It just adds a nice natural glow after being blended out.  I would say that the powder is not extremely fine but unless someone is nose to nose with you, all they will see is a nice glowy sheen. Cherry wood is a soft, warm tannish brown. Although it is more pigmented than #1 Wood Brown, I definitely do need to swipe it over my skin a couple of times for it to show up. On my skin, I don't find it to be orangey. It adds a bit of warms and shadow to my face when I use it to contour. It definitely looks very natural and it blends nicely.  [* I don't use the brush that comes with this product - I've lost that. I use my Real Techniques brush].

Of the many Koreans bronzers which I've came across, I haven't experience any that has heavy pigmentation.I think the reason for lack of heavy pigmentation in Korean bronzers is because many Koreans don't like the heavy obvious contoured look. They tend to prefer the more subtle "no makeup" makeup look. So bronzers with lighter pigmentation allows for more subtle and natural shadows which is more wearable for everyday life. Let me know what you think. 

I used the bronzer in this picture to create some depth under my blush and also along my chin. It looked really natural and gave my face more dimention.

Packaging

I really love the sleek slimness of this duo. I rarely find compacts this thin. It's quite easy to slip into my bag and it has a large mirror, definitely a plus. It also comes with a separate small, dense flat brush which is housed in its own plastic cover. One complaint I do have is, I don't think the fun cuteness of the cover matches the elegance of the print design on the product.

Comparing the Tony Moly crystal blush to the Étude House Aloha. I consider the Tony Moly blush to be of regular width. You can see the Aloha duo is about 2 millimeters slimmer than the Tony Moly. It may not sound like much, but you can definitely feel the difference. I don't think the Tony Moly blush pans are much wider than the Aloha but its plastic case definitely adds more bulk to the package. 

Note: There is a small hole at the top of the back which allows you to easily depot this item. If you want to learn how to safely depot Korean eyeshadow/ pan items check out my post on depotting the Holika Holika eyeshadows. The procedure would be the same for this item.

Price

14 000 Won (about $14 US) and available at all Etude House stores in Korea.

What I Love About It

• very natural but effective bronzer
• highlighter gives a nice and natural glow
• convenient
• slim packaging
• the compact contains a large usable mirror
• elegant flower print on the product
• affordable 

What I Don't Love About It

• may be difficult for people outside of Korea to find
• the highlighter powder is slightly noticeable up close 

The Bottom Line

I highly recommend this product to anyone who is looking for an affordable highlighter and bronzer. It is a really convenient duo that I would carry with me when travelling. 

5 comments bronzer, contour, étude, étude house, highlighter, Korea, Korean cosmetics, makeup, review

L'Occitane Fleur Cherie Hand Cream Review

Let me start off this post by telling you this, I have never been one to finish using up anything. Why? 1. I lose interest in the scent 2. I love the product I'm scared of using it all up 3. I get bored and buy new products. However this is not the case with this hand cream. I've almost used all of it up and there is some kind of satisfaction with that!

 L'Occitane hand creams to me was one of those passing trends in the beauty community. One season everyone has it and raves about it and the next people have moved onto other things. As per usual with most items.  I actually never gave it much thought but ever since I've moved to Korea, I've received two of them as gifts. I think L'Occitane has an especially high prestige value in Korea because 

1. It's sold in department stores 

2. It's expensive for a hand cream

3. It's imported from France

All these qualities make it a very good gift for someone you're not too close with but respects.

Scent

I'm not very good at describing scents, but I think the Fleur Cherie hand cream has a very unique and expensive scent. I've allowed my guy friends to use my hand creams before and they like it as well. The scent is not too sweet and not too heavy. It's smells like slightly musky orange blossoms - very elegant, slightly feminine. I find it a very relaxing smell.  Orange blossom scents are quite unique in Western markets. The only other place I've seen orange blossom scented products is at Innisfree (It's my favorite Korean store). They made a shower gel and lotion but the scent is extremely overpowering compared to the L'Occitane. Fleur Cherie scent lingers for about an hour before fading off.

Price

It retails for 12 000 Won for 30ml

Texture:

Not too light nor too thick. It feels like a milky lotion and absorbs immediately leaving my hands feel soft and moisturized but not greasy.

Moisture

This hand cream provides slight hydration. When my hands are extremely dry, I don't find that this hand creams makes that much of a difference but yet it never claimed to be a heavy duty hand cream. It's wonderful to use if you have slightly dry hands that need occasional moisture.

Convenience

This is definitely small and convenient enough to stick into my makeup bag. I love how it comes in a tube and not a had plastic case. It's also pretty to pull out and use.

Bottom Line

I don't find that the L'Occitane hand creams to be increadibly amazing or anything for moisture but they do have it nailed when it comes to scent. I think they make wonderful indulgences and excellent gifts but I don't think I would buy it if I just need a hand cream to moisturize my hands.

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Banila Co. The Black 17 Sleeping Pack Review

My first encounter with this product is through a sample pack. I've had the sample for the longest time but I never really had any high expectations of it. To me, Banila Co. is a brand well known for their eyeliners and their primers, it wasn't a skincare focus brand. However, one day as I was updating my bag of sample, I decided to pull this out and give it try.

IT WAS INCREDIBLE.

I tried to resist purchasing this because I already have three other sleeping packs that were not nearly finished, but eventually I caved in.

Ingredients:
Although the packaging doesn't have any formal English ingredients list, it did have this picture list of what the The Black 17 black food complex consist of:

Texture:

The product is like a thick jelly texture. It looks almost black in the tube but it's actually a clear deep indigo blue with white beads, which are suppose to be capsules of moisture. When I first tried this from the sample packet, I didn't actually feel any beads but when I tried the tube I felt the beads.... strange. Maybe they updated the formula over the timespan that I've had the sample (about a year). It feels a bit grainy at first but then it disappears.

A close up

Spread Out

Performance:

The product should be easily spread on the face. It feels slightly cool and hydrating. Not sticky at all, just like a layer of gel. It absorbs quite quickly. When you wake up in the morning, you definitely feel no residue left on your face nor see any on the pillow.

I notice that my skin looks brighter, firmer, and more hydrated.

I'm not sure if it's because of the 17 food complex but whatever it is, it definitely helped my skin especially when I'm stressed.

What I Love About It:

- inexpensive for a Banila Co. product: it is 14 000Won - the same cost as their Eyelove Eyeliner

- keeps my skin hydrated through the night

- makes my skin look brighter

- absorbs easily and leaves no noticeable residue on my pillow

What I Don't Love About It:

- although there is a ingredients list in pictures on the box, there's no actual ingredient list mentioned in English.

Score: A

Overall I love this product and would highly recommend it. It's gives so much hydration and keeps the skin looking bright and bouncy. I would rank it as my second favorite sleeping pack after Innisfree Canola Honey Sleeping Pack. It would be nice to see a full list of ingredients in English though.

4 comments Banila Co, skincare, sleeping pack