In the realm of Asian makeup Japan and Korea have it down pat with the cute-sey (and sometimes gimmicky) packaging. Apart from innovations such as snail/snake serums and essences or sake based skin care, these two countries make one of the cutest beauty packaging, at least for me.

Etude House is no different. This (Korea-born-now-internationally-famous) affordable brand is primarily targeted for teens to young adults. The skin and makeup brand houses the cutest products whenever you think of "Korean makeup".



According to Etude :

• Blur effect : The unique powder that reflects shine to various ways to express bright skin color is used to deliver excellent application and delicate vivid colors.
• Long lasting : Sebum Control Powder tech is applied to absorb sebum to maintain fresh makeup and it contains Coating Pigment for long-lasting clear makeup.
• Lovely Puff : Fluffy cushion type puff helps blend and build beautifully to desired intensity.
• 7.2g

The sturdy plastic case encases the (generously hefty read 7.2g) blush. Along with the cute puff, that I do use sometimes and works quite well, the whole thing screams adorable.



The blush itself is finely milled thus exquisitely smooth. Being smooth it's understandably blendable as well. Some might find the color a little sheer, but it is very build-able.



This #10 Peach Parfait pastel light peach matte shade looks very natural especially on me. I have to build it up considerably (pack it on) if I want to show it on camera. But I do really like it because of the color and texture.



It's not long lasting though. If you're looking for a blusher that stays throughout the day this isn't for you. I don't have particularly oily cheeks but after about 4 - 5 hours it's gone. Although it might be because of the shade itself. It's still obvious on my cheeks but not as obvious as a straight-up pink blush. My brother even thought I was just posting a picture of a hand on my blog....then again why am I asking for my brother's opinion?

The texture, color and macaron shaped packaging are tops for me so I don't mind the lack of longevity.

Have you tried anything from Etude? Would you forgo longevity for cute packaging? :))



xx,
CJ


PS. It's Php 348 here (around USD 9).
PPS. It's so cute.
PPPS. I do use moisturizing bases so that might've affected the longevity. People that use oil-control primers, powder foundations or matte finish foundations might have a different outcome.

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Website : http://www.etudehouse.com/
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/etudehousephilippines/

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Depending on the color the list of ingredient changes. This a sample of one of the colours. Ingredients: Mica, Talc, Tocopheryl Acetate, Petrolatum, Magnesium Stearate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Ethylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Butylparaben [+/-CI 77891, CI 77499, CI 77492, CI 45410, CI 19140]

Impulse Buy (Noun) : When you go to the store to get cotton pads and check out with half of the inventory. 

I did a little damage this month because I have little self-control I saw a lot of cool new things. I also got some backups of things I've tried and liked before.

I've been on a skincare kick lately on my blog so I wanted to follow it with some (mostly) skincare empties.

These are products that have been in my empties bin in a while. Most of them have even been in here for more than five months. I actually have a couple of stuff that I finished but I deemed them not worthy enough for a post. Because all of these (except one) I actually really like.


1.) ZA Cleansing Foaming Gel

I really really really love this cleansing gel. It's a cleanser/makeup remover that removes even waterproof mascara. I kid you not. Even my hard-to-remove bases —you know the ones that just emulsify on your face but are still there —are removed easily.





To make sure it removes all of my makeup, what I do is wet my face a little take a small (but I usually overdo it, what else is new) pea-sized amount, massage it on my whole face for more than a minute, let it sit a minute more then rinse. It leaves my skin clean and not-taut like some heavy-duty cleansers tend to do.


2.)  ZA Hydration Fresh Lucent Toner

I bought this along with my gel cleanser in one of my hoard-everything hauls when ZA had that 50% off sale (see post here). And I do not regret getting this at all. I kinda feel bad for not getting more.


It's not one of those revolutionary toners, I mean it even has alcohol (which I tend to avoid in toners) but I love it because:

• It doesn't break me out
• It feels refreshing and gets rid of other traces of makeup/dirt my cleanser missed
• It has Hyaluronic Acid which is the magic word if you want to increase hydration and improve skin elasticity plus it works on all skin types — oily, dry, normal and combination.

I'm currently using a non-alcohol toner but I might get back to this if I get the time to get my ass out of the house.


3.) Baviphat Green Tea Mist

Mists are my absolute indulgence. These types of mists aren't really good for anything other than refreshing the face so they aren't particularly used for setting makeup but I use it anyway for that apart from its intended use.



This one doesn't have the fine mist that I like but the smell and the way it feels on the skin is really nice. It wasn't that pricey either. I think I bought this for around Php 200 - 250.


4.) Etude Eye & Lip Remover

Funny name but good product. It removes eye makeup well. For waterproof mascara I tend to go back a second time but sometimes it's not that big of a deal. I much prefer the Maybelline eye and lip makeup remover though but this is an ok alternative and cheap too - less than Php300. (sorry I don't have a close-up shot of it!)


5.) Fashion21 and Darkness Auto Eyebrow Pens

For eyebrow makeup, I'm not that picky. Well, actually I am. But I'm not brand conscious. If it works. It works. And these two are fantastic. Fashion21 is harder in texture, the type I gravitate towards. The color is a cool-brown with no traces of red in it and the packaging is simple, sleek and sturdy.



Darkness is another Korean brand and much softer in texture compared to Fashion21. It has more leeway if you want a softer brow look since you can easily brush out the color because of its texture. The color is also a cool-toned brown and perfect for dark brunettes. The shape of the "lead" is flat and angled which made it easy for me to draw on my brows. But if I had to choose, I'd go for the Fashion21 because good hard eyebrow pencils are hard to come by, most of the time they're creamy and/or too waxy for my taste.


6.) Instant Argan Oil

Aka the super expensive pure Argan oil that wasn't really pure. I bought this for Php 1000 and during that time Argan oil was just being introduced to the Philippine market, so everybody was clamoring to get one. I didn't have proper information about it at the time and bought the bottle on a whim.



It works okay I guess, as a face moisturizer but I like it better for the hair and body. The thing I'm pissed about here is I thought I was getting PURE Argan oil not some heavily perfumed watered-down version of it. The consistency was thick like maple syrup and smelt like talc. It reminded me of those vanilla body sprays from Victoria's Secret.

Argan oil, I learned,  is supposed to smell woody or "medicinal" in a way not powdery and sweet. I blame the SA who said it was pure. It was my fault though for not reading the bottle. It didn't have PURE written anywhere on it.

That concludes my empties post. Have you tried any of these? And what're your thoughts about Sales Assistants "bending" the truth just to get a sale?


xx,
CJ

I have sparse lashes. They're not short per se but they're spaced about here and there as if to spite me. I think it's pretty common among asian girls having sparse and sometimes short lashes. The eyes being the windows to the soul, would mean that the eyelashes are...curtains...? Where was I going with this?

Let's get on to the actual reason I'm writing this post.






Because hey, whatever, I had little to no expectations to begin with. Maybe, just maybe, they'll work on my brows. (Inner plea to the gods : Please oh please oh please let this not be a complete waste of time)



Have you tried lash growing serums?

xx,
CJ

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Etude House PH website : http://www.etudehouse.ph/