You Say Tomato – TONYMOLY Tomatox Brightening Mask

Again the Tony Moly packaging sucked me in. This time it’s the Tomatox Brightening mask. I love products that contain tomatoes (like the Burt’s Bees tomato toner) because they contain antioxidants and all that other good stuff. What’s good for the belly is good for the face no?

Here’s the amazingly awesome package. Nice thing about these is that you can recycle them as containers for other products when you travel as well!

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It’s Getting Warm in Herre: Lunasol EX02 Warm Coral Collection Eyeshadow Palette Review

I may or may not have squeed when I saw this Lunasol eyeshadow palette from Lunasol’s 15th Anniversary Summer Eyes collection. (Spoiler alert: I squeed.)  EX02 Warm Coral Collection contains five beautiful shimmery shades. What drew me to this palette were the orange and pink shades. Browns, taupes, and beiges are usually what make up a natural eye makeup look, but interestingly, the trend in Korea calls for light pink and orange instead. After seeing some Korean tutorials and ads using pink and orange eyeshadow, I have to say that I see the light.

01  Lunasol EX02 Warm Coral Collection Eyeshadow Review
Taken indoors. Colors are accurate, but the full shimmery glory is not revealed

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¡Eye Carumba! Review of Eyelid Trainer

01 Eyelid Trainer Review
No, your eyes don’t stay this big once you take it off.

WTF File No. 2 is . . . drumroll please . . . the Eyelid Trainer!

I can’t make too much fun of this one since I actually tested it for several weeks and saw subtle results. The Eyelid Trainer consists of 2 flexible arcs of thin plastic attached onto a modified eyeglass frame.  The purpose of this contraption is to train your eyelids to fold–to either fold at all or to fold at a higher place/rounder shape.  That’s my best guess anyway.  I can’t read Japanese.

02 Eyelid Trainer Instructions Continue reading “¡Eye Carumba! Review of Eyelid Trainer”

Hit me Babyface One More Time – It•s Skin Babyface Petit Pact

Asian cosmetic packaging is so damn cute. It’s not always the fanciest or most sophisticated, but it’s always so miniature and nicely compartmentalized. Gets me every time.

Behold the Babyface Petit Pact which is a mini compact powder. It’s only about 2 inches in diameter! Great for nights out when you have to fit your massive phone, credit cards, ID, and makeup refresher staples into a teeny clutch. Don’t get me started on chicks with big purses at bars and lounges.
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Nose Doubt: Review of “Nose Up” Bridge-Straightening Clip

01 Nose Up Review
Please don’t blackmail me with this photo.

From the WTF Files comes the Nose Up, a clip that squeezes the sides of your nose together with the purpose of lifting and slimming your nose bridge after regular use. I debated whether to review this seriously, especially when I haven’t used this product seriously.

There are several variations of this contraption (Nose Magic, etc.), mainly aimed at the Asian market. Just search “magic nose bridge lift” in Google Images.

02 Nose Up Review
Mine is plastic and has firm silicone/rubber nubs for comfort (relatively speaking).

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My Laneige Serum Intense Lipsticks from Another Star: Review of YR25 Neon Orange & LR07 Love Me Pink

I first grew curious about the Laneige Serum Intense Lipsticks because Cheon Song Yi (Jun Ji Hyun) applies shade YR25 Neon Orange in one episode of “My Love From Another Star.”  In that episode, she’s shown sitting at her vanity with the whole range of Laneige Serum Intense Lipsticks organized before her, and she selects this shade to wear before meeting up with Do Min Joon.

So naturally, I bought the exact same lipstick.  While I was at it, I picked up LR07 Love Me Pink01 Laneige Serum Intense Lipstick YR25 LR07 ReviewThe lipsticks have a creamy texture that melts onto your lips.  The finish is moist and shiny.  Coverage is medium and buildable to full.  Due to the creamy texture, lasting power is just so-so. Continue reading “My Laneige Serum Intense Lipsticks from Another Star: Review of YR25 Neon Orange & LR07 Love Me Pink”

Sake to Me! Kiku-Masamune Sake Skin Care Lotion

Sake is useful for making you beautiful…and not just by giving your date sake-goggles ladies, muahhahahah. If you’re unfamiliar, the legend of the famous SK-II brand has it that a scientist in 1970s-era Japan noticed the very soft and youthful hands of women working in a Japanese saké brewery. So now the sake beauty products proliferate.

Also there’s some research saying that the kojic acid in sake decreases your skin’s ability to form the melanin found in spots and freckles. This same type of acid helps your skin retain moisture. Sake yeast is also supposed to stimulate cell-regeneration. Lots of promising “scientific” claims!

Today I binged at Atlantic Square in Alhambra again and blew a bit of dough on experimental products, one of which is a face milky toner lotion by Kiku-Masamune. It’s NOT a beauty brand; it’s a sake brewery!

This milky toner is made from amino acids that are the product of the Japanese sake from this brewery. The 17 fl oz (500ml) bottle cost me $15 so it’s a LOT of product for the price. Great to use it as a cheap toning face mask. I bought those cotton sheet masks that you can use to create your own.
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Lash Out! – déjàvu Fiberwig Extra Long Mascara

I almost never wear mascara. I used to…until several incidents where I over-crimped the lashes on one eye and all of them broke off and stuck onto the curler. It looked like my sleeping eye was on the curler!

But enough about that fiasco. Occasionally I will try a new mascara because I am inspired by an ad or because I need a new product to be excited about. Most of the time the overpriced tube of mascara (Estée Lauder lash lift mascara-discontinued, Dior Show waterproof, Max Factor, etc) gets tossed into my 2×4 foot makeup bin.

This is the next one: déjàvu Fiberwig Extra Long mascara. I got a combo set which came with a tiny tube for the bottom lashes. Squee! Cute!
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Face Off: Laneige Multi Cleanser Review

Laneige Multi Cleanser ($22 for 6 fl. oz.) makes many claims for a facial cleanser, but unfortunately it doesn’t live up to several of them.

01 Laneige Multi Cleanser Review
“For all skin”? ::eyebrow raise::

First, it’s supposed to be for all skin types. Although it lathers up beautifully into a gentle-feeling cushiony cloud of dense foam (far denser than any typical cleanser; it’s similar to a Shiseido cleanser I tried many years ago), skin is left feeling clean. Too clean. After other cleansers, my fingers can still glide over my skin, but after Multi Cleanser, my fingers drag and skip over my skin. So it’s too harsh for dry skin. (Yet it’s strangely satisfying in the summer to feel all the oil stripped from your face.)  Update: I tested the pH level to be 8, which explains the squeaky clean feeling.  Also, the dense foam takes several extra splashes to rinse it from your hairline or (ew) nostrils.

Next, it makes four claims: Continue reading “Face Off: Laneige Multi Cleanser Review”