Memebox #23 Girl's Night Out

Every time I think I'm over beauty boxes, something new pops up that gets me excited about them all over again. Last year, it was Love Me Beauty's "choose your favourite from three menus" concept, but by now I've gotten a little bit bored of the products they have on offer. Just as I cancelled my subscription Memebox pops up with an entirely new idea. Not only are all boxes themed and you simply pick which one you like, without ever having to start a re-occuring subscription, the main selling point is the fact that you get nothing but Korean beauty products. I've been a fan of Asian beauty for a very long time, as it caters to a lot of my beauty needs: pale skin, hooded lids... and don't even get me started on the packaging. Sadly, I wouldn't know where to start most of the time, as there's no chance of me understanding anything on the packaging. In comes Memebox, offering not only edited down sets of Korean products to try, but also a very useful leaflet explaining exactly what everything is and what you're meant to do with it, as well as the chance to buy any products that you like from their shop. How could I say no to that? The box I've got to show you today is box #23, themed "Girl's Night Out".

It came packed to the very brim with make-up and beauty products and took exactly two weeks from placing the order to arrive - not bad, considering it had to travel halfway around the world! I normally do a value breakdown with my beauty box reviews, but I just don't feel that would be very appropriate in this case, as you'd be hard pressed to find any of these items here in the UK. Instead, I'll just give you my first impressions about each item.

1) Kskin | Bulgarian Rose Pheromone Perfume Pink Angel

I usually hate receiving perfumes in beauty boxes, but seeing as this one's a full sized rollerball rather than a dinky little counter sample, I'm happy with the product I received. I got incredibly excited when I saw that it was rose based, but I'm still on the fence about whether I like it or not. There is an initially overwhelming smell of alcohol, but once that's evaporated you're left with a faint, powdery hint of rose. This is going straight in my handbag for perfume application on the go.

2) Forest Story | Water Essence Hair Perfume Soft Soap Fragrance

My eyes lit up a little bit when I read the description of this product. A hair spray that is designed to eliminate all odours (like food or cigarette smoke) from your hair while adding softness and moisture. What a brilliant idea! I think it's safe to say that we all have those days where an extra hour in bed sounds a lot more appealing than getting up, washing and styling our hair and sometimes dry shampoo doesn't quite cut it. I've spritzed a bit of my regular perfume onto my hair before, but I can't imagine all the alcohol in it to be particularly good for my hair. Sadly, the scent of this is insanely overwhelming. Soap fragrance, yes, definitely, but soft it is not - more like a soapy sledgehammer to the face. As my hair is freshly washed I can't comment on its softening properties just yet, but I will try to give it another go on my next bad hair day.

3) A.m.oK cosmetics | N.S.M Soft Moose Waterproof Liquid Line

I think something may have gotten a little lost in translation here... Soft Moose? Surely they meant Mousse... and "Three step cross eyes"?? I really hope I don't get cross eyed from using this, haha! Anyway, the product itself is a soft cream inside a tube with a brush applicator. The brush is meant to make it easy to use it as an eye shadow blended out all over the lid, as well as an eye liner focused on the lash line, but I feel that it is too wide to perform well as a liner. This came in a variety of shades and I feel like I've really lucked out with mine (550 Elegance Purple - see swatches below). It's a gorgeous shimmery bronze with soft purple undertones, which applies incredibly pigmented. From my swatch it seems a bit too creamy to be waterproof and I think I might need to wear a good primer underneath or set it with a powder shadow perhaps, but I really can't wait to give this a go!

4) Secret-Stargirl | S-Style 2set

This is another product that came in lots of different variation and the one I got was 01 Sexy Eye. It's safe to say that these lashes are completely out of my comfort zone and not something I would ever pick up in a store. I think they're a tad think and long and glossy, so are going to look very obviously fake on the eye, but nevertheless I'm willing to give them a go next time I'm on a big night out or something.

5) Croquis | Dual Concealer

This is a double ended product, with dark circle concealer on one end and blemish concealer on the other end. The dark circle side is lighter and peachier in tone and comes with a brush applicator as opposed to the doefoot applicator that comes with the blemish concealer side. Just in case you get as confused as I did, it also has a picture of an eye and a picture of dots to make it clear which side is for which purpose. Upon first inspection I really, really like this product. It applies very creamy and actually quite runny at first, but once you start blending away, you can see that there's a very decent amount of pigmentation in there. I can imagine it being a bit annoying to get something like this if you have a dark skin tone, but for my pale skin this is a perfect match!

6) A.m.oK cosmetics | N.S.M Special Nail Lacquer

Imagine my excitement when I saw that they included not one but two nail polishes in this box! The shades I got are OR206 Juicy Fresh and PP516 Violet Tulip and once more I feel like I've really lucked out with the colours, as they're both shades I'll happily wear. In contrast, I've seen some pretty horrendous glitter shades in other boxes while writing up this review. These two actually make me think Halloween nails, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

7) Kepaclub | Maxi Lip Tint Glow

This lipstick/balm hybrid has got to be my favourite item from the box. The packaging is very reminiscent of Dior lipsticks, albeit with a much cheaper execution. The colour, however, is absolutely stunning. I can't make out which one of the three colour choices I received, but I did noticed that mine seems to be a lot more pigmented than other people's - or perhaps it just shows up better on my light skin? I just realised that I forgot to take a picture of the lipstick bullet (#bloggerfail), but you can see the colour in the swatch image below. It's a beautiful rosy pink and exactly the colour which springs to my mind when I think about Korean make-up. I don't ever want to take it off again.

And as promised, here are all make-up products swatched up.

L-R: N.S.M Soft Moose Waterproof Liquid Line in 550 Elegance Purple // Dual Concealer in 02 // Maxi Lip Tint Glow (shade unknown)

After opening my box I browsed a few other reviews online and was quite stunned to find that they were overwhelmingly negative. While I'm really not a fan of the soapy hair spray scent, I'm really happy with all the other products and I can genuinely see myself using all of them. I think in part I was really lucky with the colours I received, as they're all extremely pretty and very wearable.

I'm quite impressed that there were eight full sized products in my box and they're all exciting brands that I've never heard of. I also really like the fact that I don't have to commit to a subscription, but I can buy as many (or as few) boxes as and when I like. In fact, I'm already rummaging for my credit card to order my next one...

Review: Seventeen Phwoarr Paint

After mentioning this concealer at every given opportunity for the past six months or so, I think it's about time it finally got its very own review. To cut a long story short, I absolutely love this stuff. So much so, I actually think it's better than the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer, as far as drugstore products are concerned - whoa, big statement there, I know.

This stuff will literally cover everything. I have hereditary dark circles, so even though lifestyle choices do make a difference (getting enough sleep, drinking lots of water, yada yada...), nothing seems to make them go away entirely. Even most concealers fail miserably at covering them up and stopping me from looking like something that's just crawled out of a cave. Save this.

This is exactly what it says on the tin: A thick, heavy duty concealer that stays put pretty much all day. Now, I definitely wouldn't recommend this for the undereye area if you find that you already get quite a lot of dryness there, as something as thick and heavy as this will only cling to dry patches. On my combination skin, however, this stays exactly where I applied it without sliding off and I only see a little bit of creasing in the inner corners at the end of a long day - a price I will happily pay in return for the amazing coverage this concealer offers.

Seventeen Phwoarr Paint in Fair - swatched in natural light

Other than under the eyes, this also does a phenomenal job at covering up any blemishes or red patches. I find that a lot of thick, heavy concealers can emphasise the area more than they cover it by clinging to the dry skin around a blemish, but not so with this. I'd say it's almost like a cream to powder consistency, which allows you enough time to blend things in properly before it sets.
As you can see above, the shade fair is pretty much a perfect match for me, but as with most drugstore products, the shade range is very limited and there are currently only two colours available: Fair (great for pale girls like me!) and Medium.

Monthly Favourites: February 2014

1) Fudge Urban Sea Salt Spray

It never occurred to me to get a salt spray for my hair. When I'm on a beach holiday the salt doesn't make my hair look good in any way - it tends to resemble a tangled up pile of seaweed! I was gifted this to try and I've been in love since the first application. To start off with it's got an amazing coconut scent that smells good enough to eat. It doesn't really do that much to your hair, but it adds just that little bit of texture, a touch of volume and encourages my hair to go into its natural wavy state without getting all tangled up. It's just a perfect little boost for second day hair.

2) Marc Jacobs Honey Perfume

This perfume was a late Christmas gift and I've shamelessly been wearing it almost every day. It's a wonderfully uplifting and happy scent that's not too overpowering. I won't waffle on about it too much as I've done a full review on it just a few days ago. You can find it here.

3) Seventeen Phwoarr Paint

This is a typical case of "the blogger made me buy it". After seeing this on loads of my favourite beauty blogs I nipped into my local Boots and got myself a pot of Phwoarr Paint and I'm so glad I did! This is the concealer I've been waiting for all my life. It's thick enough to seamlessly cover even stubborn blemishes and my serious dark circles, but doesn't crease or cake at all. And it's from the highstreet and a complete bargain! What's not to love?

4) Pro:Voke Touch of Silver Shampoo

As my hair is bleached I have to treat it with purple shampoo and conditioner every other wash to prevent it from going brassy. I've been on the hunt for the perfect one for ages and certainly didn't think I'd finally find it in this £2 bottle from a brand I'd never heard of. But not only does it have the perfect strength to get rid of any yellow or orange undertones but without causing any dodgy purple patches where my hair is a bit lighter. Most of all, it leaves my hair really healthy, smooth and soft. This is definitely a repurchase!

Review: MUA Cover & Conceal wand

MUA is quite an interesting brand for me. I once bought an amazing eye liner from them and a pretty decent nail polish and even though all the products I've purchased since have been more or less duds, I just keep finding myself drawn to the brand again and again. Maybe it's the ridiculously low prices, maybe it's their way of constantly coming out with new and innovative products, but something just draws me to their display more than most of the other brands'.

So, when I was in the market for a new concealer, how could I resist this concealer wand that retails at £1.50? Bargain! I'll admit that I was secretly hoping it would be on par with my beloved Collection concealer, which is already extremely cheap, but still about three times the price of this one.

Well, turns out it's nothing like the Collection concealer. It's a lot lighter both in application as well as in coverage, which meant that unless you don't mind applying 45 layers, you're best off avoiding it for blemishes. As for under my eyes I felt that I could get away with using it on good days, but after a heavy night it didn't do that much to hide my dark circles.

MUA Cover & Conceal wand in Natural swatched (left) and blended in (right)

On the plus side it blends really well and I didn't find any creasing at all throughout the day. I think this would be a great product for anyone who doesn't need an awful lot of coverage from a concealer, because it does feel really light and lovely on the skin. But if you need a bit more hardcore concealing action like me, you're best off saving this for your off days, or maybe avoiding it altogether.

So, even though I was once again not particularly blown away by this concealer, I'm pretty sure I'll somehow find myself drawn to a MUA stand once more unable to resist a cheeky little purchase for a pound or two.

You can find the Cover & Conceal wand on the MUA website here. It's available in three shades, Fair, Natural and Almond. Unfortunately there aren't any shades to match darker skin tones, but I found that with my rather pale skin, Natural worked really well.

Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer Review

As soon as it launched, Rimmel's Wake Me Up Foundation caused quite a bit of a stir in the beauty world, being hailed as a nice light to medium coverage foundation that gives a lovely glow to tired and dull skin. I haven't heard an awful lot about the concealer in the range, but was eager to find out just what it could do for my dark and tired undereyes after picking it up at the drugstore.

The shade I went for was 010 Ivory, the lightest in the bunch. The texture of the concealer is very light, but without being overly runny, which makes for easy application using the doe foot applicator. Three dabs under each eye, a little bit of patting in and I'm good to go.

The thing about this concealer is that it's not overly heavy, so it won't offer a ton of coverage. On the plus side, this also means absolutely no creasing or caking, though I did find it wore off after about four to five hours of wear, even when I set it with loose powder.
Instead of masking dark circles with heavy coverage it instead provides an iridescent glow that aims to draw attention away from them. And boy, as far as concealers are concerned, this is probably as iridescent as they come.

I hope the swatch gives you a slight idea of just how shimmery this product is. At first I thought I'd been experiencing fallout from my eye shadows, but then it kept appearing even when I was wearing matte shades or no shadow at all.
The thing that made me ruffle my imaginary beard a little is the fact that I've seen several supposedly professional make-up artists using this in their Youtube videos for covering up blemishes. I don't mean to be a bitch here, because I am by no means a trained make-up artist, but please do not use shimmery concealers on spots. It's like drawing a large fat sign on your face that says "Woooo I have spots! And I made them SPARKLE!!!", so why the heck are they doing it?!

Under the eyes a little bit of vampire sparkle doesn't hurt, but I would never ever use this on red patches or blemishes, which means that annoyingly I now have to use a separate product for those problem areas. On the upside this doubles up as a very subtle highlight on cheekbones and the cupid's bow when in a pinch.

Rimmel's Wake Me Up Concealer retails at £5.49 and is available in four shades.

Have you tried this concealer? What did you think?

NYX HD Concealer Wand Review

I like to give credit where credit is due, but I cannot for the life of me remember who was talking about this concealer that made me want to buy it. So apologies to whoever you are, but you were pretty convincing, because as soon as I ran out of concealer I went straight into the shops looking for this one and nothing else, even though I'd never tried another NYX product.

Ich gebe eigentlich immer bei Bedarf meine Quellen an, aber ich kann mich leider überhaupt nicht daran erinnern, wer über diesen Concealer gesprochen hatte und in mir die Kauflust anregte. Wer auch immer du bist, es tut mir sehr leid, aber du warst unheimlich überzeugend, denn sobald mein Concealer leer war, bin ich schnurstracks zu Douglas gelaufen, um mir genau diesen hier zu kaufen und das obwohl ich noch nie ein NYX-Produkt probiert hatte.

If, upon looking at this concealer, another one springs straight to your mind, then I don't blame you. It does as a matter of fact look a lot like the ever so popular Collection (2000) lasting perfection, which has been my favourite concealer for ages. Therefore I just can't help but compare the two and pit them against each other.

Wenn ihr beim Angucken dieses Concealers gleich an einen anderen denken müsst, dann überrascht mich das nicht. Er sieht dem wahnsinnig beliebten Collection (2000) Lasting Perfection Concealer, der lange Zeit auch mein Lieblingsconcealer war, nämlich zum Verwechseln ähnlich. Deshalb kann ich mir nicht helfen, die beiden miteinander zu vergleichen und zu schauen wie sie sich so im Duell machen.

First up, as usual, the packaging. It comes in a clear plastic tube with a doe foot applicator, which I don't find particularly useful to be honest. I tend to use the applicator directly under my eyes to make little dots, but if I want to cover up a blemish I'll pick up the product from the wand using a brush, as I just don't want bacteria to breed in the tube. Some of you may be pleased to hear that the writing on the packaging does not wear off. ;)

Zuallererst wie gewohnt die Verpackung. Er kommt in einer durchsichtigen Plastiktube mit Schaumapplikator, was ich nicht so prickelnd finde. Den Applikator benutze ich direkt nur zum Auftupfen unter meinen Augen, aber wenn ich Unreinheiten abdecken möchte, dann nehme ich die Farbe lieber erst mit einem Pinsel auf. Ich möchte einfach nicht, dass sich in der Tube eine Bakterienkolonie ansammelt. Einige von euch mögen auch froh sein zu hören, dass sich der Aufdruck auf der Verpackung nicht abreibt. ;)

The thing that I found incredibly positive from the very start is the huge array of colours this comes in. From the almost white porcelain to deep colours for very dark skin - there's even a green, yellow and purple thrown in if you want to use it as a base to counteract a certain discolouration. I've only ever seen this much choice from more expensive brands, like MAC or Bobbi Brown.

Was ich von Anfang an als sehr positiv empfand, war die große Farbauswahl. Vom fast weißen Porcelain bis hin zu tiefen Farbtönen für sehr dunkle Haut - es gibt sogar ein grün, gelb und lila für die, die damit gewisse Farbstiche eliminieren möchten. So viel Auswahl kenne ich eigentlich nur von teureren Firmen wie MAC oder Bobbi Brown.

After a little swatch session I settled on the lightest shade as usual, which is Porcelain. Turns out it wasn't the best of choices, as it's actually a tad too light for me. This is because a) It's the lightest shade of concealer I have ever, ever seen and b) I'm still failing to realise that I managed to tan and my skin is no longer the colour of salt.

Nach einer kleinen Swatch-Session entschied ich mich wie immer für die hellste Farbe, also Porcelain. Es stellt sich heraus, dass das nicht die beste Wahl war, denn sie ist im Grunde zu hell für mich. Das liegt daran, dass a) es die hellste Concealerfarbe ist, die ich je gesehen habe und b) ich immer noch nicht begreife, dass meine Haut gebräunt ist und nicht mehr die Farbe von Salz hat.

This is probably the thickest concealer I've ever tried that doesn't come in solid form. When you first apply it it doesn't seem that bad, but it quickly dries to a powdery finish. That means you've got to work fast, otherwise it's going to be a nightmare to blend out. I like using a MAC 224 to buff it in and that way it lasts pretty much all day without settling into creases or emphasising my pores.

Dies ist wahrscheinlich der deckendste Concealer, den ich je benutzt habe, der nicht fest ist. Beim Auftragen scheint er noch recht leicht, doch dann trocknet er ganz schnell und hinterlässt ein dickes, pudriges Finish. Das bedeutet, dass man schnell arbeiten muss, sonst wird aus dem Verblenden ein Albtraum. Ich benutze am liebsten einen MAC 224, um ihn einzuarbeiten und somit hält er praktisch den ganzen Tag, ohne sich in Fältchen oder Poren abzusetzen.

NYX HD Concealer in Porcelain swatch unblended

NYX HD Concealer in Porcelain slightly blended out

So, on to compare it to my all-time favourite drugstore concealer, the Collection Lasting Perfection. The great thing about the Collection one is that it's pretty much fool-proof. It blends out like a dream and there's not much you can do wrong with it. The NYX concealer is much more difficult to work with, but overall I'd say that the results are worth it if you're looking for heavier coverage (which with my dark undereye circles I definitely am!). It also lasts much longer when set properly, whereas the Collection one sometimes slid off my face during the course of the day.
I'm afraid I have to say that this is now officially my new favourite concealer. It's definitely worth checking out if you're looking for a cheaper product that still delivers fairly high coverage or if you struggle to find a shade that matches your skin tone (be it very light or dark).

Nun also zum Vergleich mit meinem liebsten Drogerien-Concealer, dem Collection Lasting Perfection. Das tolle am Collection-Produkt ist, dass man mit ihm nicht viel falsch machen kann, denn er lässt sich wie ein Traum verblenden. Das Produkt von NYX ist viel schwieriger in der Handhabung, aber alles in allem würde ich schon sagen, dass die Resultate es wert sind, wenn ihr etwas mehr Deckkraft möchtet (und bei meinen dunklen Augenringen möchte ich das auf alle Fälle!). Es hält auch viel länger, wenn man es mit Puder fixiert, während der von Collection manchmal im Laufe des Tages von meinem Gesicht rutschte.
Ich fürchte, ich muss sagen, dass dies hier jetzt offiziell mein neuer Lieblingsconcealer ist. Ich würde euch raten, ihn mal anzuschauen, wenn ihr ein günstiges Produkt möchtet, dass trotzdem viel Deckkraft besitzt, oder wenn ihr Probleme habt, einen Farbton zu finden, der zu eurem Hautton (sei er nun sehr hell oder dunkel) passt.
 

The NYX Concealer wands cost £5.00 each. The ones in the UK web shop don't say HD, but the shades are identical so I'm not sure if they're the same product? Anyone got any information on this one? The US shop lists the HD wands at $5.50 each.

Der NYX HD Concealer kostet 6,95€ und ist bei Douglas erhältlich.