Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion Pearl Aura

The latest addition to my stash of cushion foundations is Etude House Precious Mineral Any Cushion Pearl Aura. This latest incarnation of their popular Any Cushion is infused with Pearl Brightener (those five white spots that you see in the compact) to help create glowy, pearly aura skin. It has already won a coveted spot on the Allure Editors' Pick list in May 2015, yet another sign of the K-beauty fever currently gripping the US market.

I purchased this a few weeks ago at the Vivocity store in the shade Natural Pearl Aura, which is slightly darker than the other Light Pearl Aura shade. The refill was only S$16 for 15g. I picked one of the cute limited edition Dreaming Swan cases (S$18) to house it. It is also available with the 'normal' case for S$32, while on the Etude House official website (which ships internationally and lists the ingredients), it is retailing at US$21.60 (refills are US$12). The refill comes with the standard white and blue cushion sponge. The pic below was taken after at least 8 uses, so it is in less than pristine condition and the white pearl spots have faded slightly in the areas that my sponge usually touches.

Since purchasing this, I've been wearing it pretty much every time I go out as it's just so easy and convenient to use. In Singapore's hot and humid weather, I usually just freshen up my face with toner before applying the Any Cushion Pearl Aura. For most cushion foundations, it is advised that you pat it on with the sponge but for this cushion foundation, some light blending motion is required to mix the white pearl brightener with the beige foundation on the skin. As this has SPF50 PA+++, I usually skip applying a separate sunblock as my skin can't take layering of too many products in this weather, plus I don't spend that much time under the sun. While many cushion foundations boast a high sun protection level, these should be taken with a heavy pinch of salt as it is unlikely that one would apply enough foundation to achieve that stated level of protection. If you are going to be outdoors for a prolonged period, it is best to use a proper sunscreen.

What I like about the Any Cushion Pearl Aura is that it gives my skin a healthy glow while providing a light level of coverage to even out my skintone. Although it promises full coverage, this definitely did not completely cover up skin pigmentation spots and red blemishes although it did conceal the usual redness around the nose. If you have oily skin and dread any hint of shine on your face, this is NOT for you. One really should not expect a foundation marketed as having a glowy finish to provide significant oil control. However if you have normal to dry skin, this is worthwhile checking out if you are looking for something that is lightweight with a slightly dewy finish.

My skintype now is more combination with dry areas on the cheeks. I still need to blot my T-zone after a few hours of wearing this, but it really depends on the type of environment that I'm in. In an air-conditioned environment, I can go 4-5 hours without significant oil breakthrough on my T-zone but outdoors in the normal heat of Singapore, my T-zone gets oily within a couple of hours and the dreaded enlarged pores become more visible. I think this will work well for the autumn and harsh winter months when we are back in Illinois.

On 27-28 and 30-31 July, Etude House is offering this Decoden kit with purchase of a Any Cushion Pearl Aura, or with any S$50 nett purchase at their Vivocity store. The Pearl Aura cushions are not yet available at the Etude House store at Changi Airport, which sells the normal Any Cushion refills for only S$12.61. Etude House as a brand is very hit-and-miss for me, but I have found several products that I love from them. For the Dreaming Swan collection, I highly recommend the Veiling Pact powder brush and cushion cases but the lipsticks are a total miss for me as they were drying and did not apply evenly. The Dear My Blooming Lips formula is much better than the Dear My Wish Lips.

Etude House Princess Etionette Crystal Powder and Hearts Blusher

Just received the Etude House Princess Etionette Crystal Powder and Hearts Blusher in the mail!

I purchased this duo on Ebay for US$57 inclusive of shipping from Korea to Switzerland. Etude House has done an impressive job with the princessy packaging of this collection, which is slightly reminiscent of Laduree and Jill Stuart, but with more of a cutesy factor.

The Crystal Powder (10g) is described as a "moist loose powder with luxurious pearls that illuminate the skin with a subtle glow".



It comes with a lace-covered puff.

The powder feels very finely milled and acts like a typical translucent powder to provide a polished finish.

The Hearts Blusher is available in two shades, PK001 Pink Petal Kiss and OR201 Coral.

This comes with a fluffy cotton puff.

Each pot contains 10 blush hearts in three shades. Pink Petal Kiss is composed of a light icy beige, pale candy pink and medium pink. The pot packaging is actually deceptive as the blush compartment is rather shallow, taking up less than half of the pot. There is 12g of product which is quite paltry compared to Lavshuca Fairy Candy Cheeks (15g), the Body Shop Lily Cole Puff On Radiance (46g) and Guerlain Meteorites (30g). Nevertheless, I'm sure these will still last a good long while.

The blush hearts are a tad powdery and crumbly to touch, prone to breaking off with pressure. The cotton puff picks up the product in patches, so I'd probably use a brush instead for a more even application.

On the left half of the pic below are swatches of the three individual shades while on the right half is a swatch of the three shades blended and applied using the puff.

As you can see from the blended swatch, the finish is glowy with a very refined shimmer and no obvious glitter chunks. It is a very pale pink tint that will probably not show up well on tanned skin tones. I think this would work best layered on top of another blush.

The medium pink blush heart does have good payoff though. If Laduree's exorbitant prices give you heartburn, the Princess Etoinette collection is worth considering as a more affordable option that will look lovely on any dressing table.

List of ingredients for the Hearts Blusher.


And for the Crystal Powder.

Etude House Princess Etoinette

Etude House has just released this positively adorable Princess Etoinette collection. After seeing the pics on UrCosme, I immediately popped over to Ebay and ordered the Heart Blusher and Crystal Loose Powder. The hearts look like candy.

Operation Use It Up

Here's the batch of products that I managed to use up this month.

1. Paula's Choice Targeted Acne Relief Toner: This fragrance-free, colorant-free toner contains 2% salicylic acid for combating acne. It didn't sting my skin and it worked very well for me in terms of keeping large, cystic acne at bay although I still get whiteheads and blackheads. Will definitely re-purchase!


2. Vidal Sassoon Treatment: This rinse-off deep conditioning hair treatment left my hair soft and easy to manage, although it did not make any significant improvement in the dry condition of my color-treated hair.

3. Dove Nourishing Oil Care Express Treatment Conditioner: I found this to be more hydrating than the Vidal Sassoon Treatment and it helped to tame the frizziness without weighing my hair down. It was also intriguing in the way that it always squeezed out of the tube with a golden "ribbon" of treatment cream.

4. Bliss Ingrown Eliminating Pads: This contains 6% glycolic acid and 2% salicylic acid to help prevent ingrowns, plus lavender oil and green tea to soothe the skin. Sadly, these overpriced pads did not seem to make any difference in the rate at which I get ingrown hairs on my legs.

5. La Roche-Posay Physiological Micellar Solution: This gentle non-oily lotion helps to remove light makeup without any oily residue but it does not remove waterproof mascara well.

6. Eye makeup removers by Etude House and RMK: Both bi-phase removers worked well to remove waterproof mascaras without stinging the eyes.

7. Jurlique Rosewater Balancing Mist: Horribly expensive but I adore the rose scent, which works wonders as a mood-lifter and for relieving dry, parched skin. The rose scent also lingers for quite awhile but without being overly cloying.

8. Shu Uemura Cleansing Oil Premium A/I: This whisks off all traces of makeup in a jiffy but I prefer the lighter formula of the Fresh Gentle Cleansing Oil (pink).

9. Perricone MD Firming Facial Toner: This paraben-free, non-drying toner is supposed to help restores skin’s natural pH balance and delivers anti-aging, skin firming benefits thanks to ingredients like DMAE and alpha lipoic acid, an anti-inflammatory antioxidant. I liked how it left my skin feeling refreshed without any tightness, but I didn't notice any significant skin firming effect.

10. Sephora Smooth Nail Polish Remover: Very affordable and works well to remove most nail polishes quickly, although glitter polishes require more soaking time.

Lancome Color Design Palette Emerald Boudoir

This week, I've been loving Lancome's Color Design 5 Shadow & Liner Palette in Emerald Boudoir, which was part of the summer collection, Bronze Sensations. The combination of shades provides great versatility, as you can do a neutral look for day with the beige and brown shades, a more feminine look with the coral pink, or a fun, casual look by playing up the emerald shade.



This palette is one for shimmer lovers as four of the five have varying degrees of shimmer, with the emerald and coral pink being the most shimmery. The light chocolate shade in the center of the palette is the only one with a soft matte finish. It is great for shading the outer "V", to create the illusion of more dimension and depth. All of the shades have good colour payoff.



After priming with Too Faced Shadow Insurance, I applied the emerald shade along the upper lashline, the light beige shade over the browbone area, the coral pink in the crease and along the lower lashline, the light chocolate in the outer half of the crease.



I also used Maybelline Master Drama Eyeliner in Made of Steel at the inner corners and along the lower lashline. On the lashes, I used Etude House Henna Fix Proof 10 Mascara 01 Volume.



The eyeshadows stayed on amazingly well throughout more than 12 hours of wear without fading or creasing. At night when I got home, the emerald shade was still shiny and vibrant, whereas the Maybelline eyeliner had largely worn off.





For this look, I also used the Body Shop Extra Virgin Minerals Loose Powder Foundation #102 Natural Ivory over RMK Smoothing Polished Base, the Body Shop Blush Trio Shade #1 Cool Dusk, Make Up For Ever Lab Shine Metal Collection M10, K-Palette Real Lasting Eyebrow #1 and Shiseido Automatic Fine Eyeliner.



I think the Maybelline Master Drama Eyeliner is a new release, so it's probably not available in Singapore. I picked this up in New York a few weeks ago. It applies very smoothly along the waterline and isn't too crazily intense like the L'Oreal HIP Intense Eyeliner in silver, which tended to set too fast and wasn't easy to blend.



The only problem was that the twist-up mechanism on my liner was faulty, and so the liner could not be retracted into the case at all.



The Etude House Henna Fix Proof 10 Mascara 01 Volume is also a new release from their Aloha summer collection. There is also a fibre-based lengthening version but I prefer 01 Volume as it does not contain fibres.



The jet black formula slicks on easily and works quite well in terms of holding the curl of my lashes and adding length and definition. However, if I layer on too much, sometimes the tips of the lashes start to look droopy.

Brushes

Thought I would do a post about my daily staple arsenal of makeup brushes. As most makeup junkies know, good brushes are the foundation of any makeup kit. Well made brushes also last many years and you only need to wash them weekly to keep them in good condition. And actually you don't need to spend a lot to get a good basic set of brushes.

For example, Etude House makes an excellent range that retails for less than S$20 each. I've come to use their foundation brush and cheek brush almost daily. I use the foundation brush with Benefit Hellow Flawless powder foundation and it gives me a flawless, seamless finish every time. The result is far superior to using the dinky little sponge and brush that is included with Hello Flawless. I like to use the cheek brush with MAC Mineralize blushes as it picks up the blush pigment well and is easy to control, which is vital when you're working with intensely pigmented blushes. I don't use the small eyeshadow brushes as much as I still prefer the MAC/Inoui ID equivalents (below) but they are also very soft.


I have quite a few MAC brushes but the four below are the ones that I use regularly. For MAC, I highly recommend buying only the permanent range. Don't bother wasting money on the brush sets (in which the brushes are labelled "SE" for Special Edition) that MAC puts out a few times a year as the quality is invariably inferior to the regular ones and you're not really saving money if the quality is crap.

I use #187 mostly for applying MSFs and blushes, #213 for highlighting the browbone area and the small shading #228 brush for lining the lower eyelid and applying shades along the upper eyelid to the crease area. My #213 brush is a SE from a Christmas set from around 2001, when MAC's holiday brush sets used to be of much better quality. As Asian ladies like me tend to have smaller eyes and eye areas, a small brush like #228 is extremely useful and it's the one MAC brush I can't live without. I just bought #226 recently from the Color Craft collection as I had read many rave reviews for it but I haven't played with it much yet so can't really say much about it.


The brush on the left is from RMK Powder Foundation EX while the one on the right is from Benefit Hellow Flawless powder foundation. The RMK one is far superior with denser and softer bristles while the Benefit brush is cut unevenly, sparse and feels a bit rough. The Benefit brush actually shed when I was using it for the first time! I like to use the RMK one with Guerlain Meteorites balls to finish off my foundation.



These are the other random brushes from various brands. The top one is from a Bobbi Brown, that came in a set with a Shimmerbrick. I like to use it with Guerlain's Meteorite balls as well but I find the head is too fat for using with Shimmerbricks for which I prefer a small brush for better control. The brush below it is a no-label brush that I received as a GWP with a NARS purchase a few years ago in Japan. It's good for both applying blushes and loose powder. The Maybelline eyeliner brush has been a daily staple of mine for the past 7 years and I use it for my brows daily with MAC Cork eyeshadow. Maybelline no longer sells brushes in Singapore unfortunately but this brush was super cheap and I much preferred it over the MAC equivalent which is much stiffer. At the bottom is an Inoui ID eyeshadow brush that I use for highlighting and applying base shades all over the lid.


These are the foundation and blush kabuki brushes from The Body Shop, which I also adore, especially the blush kabuki which I actually use for applying powder foundation sometimes.


You don't actually need a big arsenal of brushes for daily use. I would say just four or five brushes is enough for most people: big powder brush, cheek brush, eyeshadow brush, eye shading/contour/blending brush, eyeliner/brow brush. And remember to always wash them frequently on a regular basis. I use MAC brush cleanser. One bottle costs S$18 and usually lasts me at least 6 months. Many also recommend using baby shampoo but the few times I tried Johnson's baby shampoo, I found that it leaves a residue so I went back to MAC brush cleanser.