First Beautifan Review and Giveaway

[Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. I received the product for a review purpose, but the opinions are my own based on my experience.]

Hi again, my dear bumblebees! So if you've read my previous post, you'd probably know that I've been selected to be the part of Beautifan team, a cosmetic review website that was published for providing unbiased and honest review to people. Please note that all of the products that I'll be reviewing for Beautifan were provided by Ibuybeauti. You can actually read my review below on their website, here's the original post, I hope that in the future you'll check their website frequently because there are so many other lovely beauty bloggers who will share their own product reviews. It's really interesting to finally be able to join the team and meet new friends from different parts of the world :D

So here is the first product from them that I'm going to share with all of you ^^ It's from my favorite Korean beauty brand, Etude House, and their wonderful skincare collection, Wonder Pore.

Etude House Wonder Pore Brush.

I have been using Wonder Pore products (the toner and facial foam) since the beginning of 2014, and I've been wanting to try the other Wonder Pore products since that time. Back then my skin was sensitive, because I just got through a doctor prescribed medication to heal my acne. However, my skin type has changed now, it's not that sensitive anymore, I have stopped taking the antibiotics as my skin has become better. I've learned that the key to have a smoother skin is to cleanse it properly too, you don't want those clogged pores to stay on your skin, right? Clean the clogged pores and your skin will thank you. Using a facial brush is one of the method to exfoliate it.

The directions on how to use and dry the brush.

Even though there's no English explanation on how to use this brush, I think the illustration is well described. If not, let me quote the translated directions from Ibuybeauti:

1. Wet the brush
2. Make enough bubble onto the palm
3. Gently apply it to the face like drawing circles

I was confused with the bottom right illustration, but it turned out to be the effective way to dry the brush.

The brush packaging.

There's no doubt Etude House is my favorite when they always managed to package everything as cute as possible. Even it's only a facial brush. It's made of hard plastics and the bristles are white and synthetic, which I think it can turn into whatever your facial wash color if you use it long enough and it can change color into yellow-ish as well if you use it for cleansing makeup base such as BB cream or foundation. I myself, double cleanse my face everyday, so I only tested this to cleanse the BB cream due to the review purpose. When I found out the BB cream turned the bristles yellow-ish, I immediately washed the brush again so yea, it's still white until now.

There are tiny holes just in case the water drips.

The bristles from above.

I was a bit skeptical with the quality of the brush at first glance, the bristle looks similar to the toothbrush. Well, seeing the picture of this product, it doesn't look that soft, don't you agree?

In fact, it is very, extremely soft! I was shocked too when I touched it for the first time. It's really unfortunate for me being not to be able to compare it with other facial brushes because this is my only facial brush. However, it doesn't feel like toothbrush at all.

Dry and wet.
Kindly click on the picture to zoom in, dear bumblebees!

The bristles are super soft, gentle to the skin and it can create bubbles too when I tried using it with my mom's facial gel. Although this brush isn’t helpful in removing waterproof makeup, I’m amazed by how it can cleanse the BB cream thoroughly (I am using Wonder Pore Whipping Foam) when I tested it on my hand. I like the brush holder too, it is designed perfectly for a steady grip.

I dropped the brush accidentally a couple of times, and there’s no scratch whatsoever found on the surface. The packaging is also very travel-friendly, and I’m glad that there’s some holes on the container so that the excess water can drip and/or the wet brush can dry out more quickly.

Why I think the brush is worth it:

• Cute and convenient packaging
• Durable
• Soft bristles, gentle to the skin
• Effective in cleansing makeup base residue
• Affordable price considering its durability

Tips: Because the bristles are white, I recommend you to cleanse the point makeup and base makeup first with cleansing oil or water before using this as I noticed that the bristles can change color. Unless you're okay with yellow bristles later, then it's fine.

Price: USD 6.99

Lastly, have you joined their giveaway? There'd be 35 winners so your chance to win is bigger! Join Beautifan's first giveaway and spread the word! The giveaway is open worldwide, and the products that they will be giving away are 5 Mamonde Real Skin Founder, 10 Clio Virgin Kiss Lipnicure and 20 Etude House Dear Darling Tint. This giveaway will run for the whole month of August and winners will be chosen randomly via Rafflecopter. Good luck!

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Super Nudy

[Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. I received the product for a review purpose, but the opinions are my own based on my experience.]

Anyong haseyo, my dear bumblebees! This is my second time reviewing circle lenses from Geocolouredlenses.com. I'm so excited when they asked me to choose one pair of lenses to be reviewed again. Mine are from the collection Super Nudy Quarter in brown with prescription -2.75.

Geo Super Nudy in brown.

The packaging came in a nicely bubble wrapped air mail, it's very safe and I got free lens case too. You can check the detail of the packaging in my first review post of Geocolouredlenses, I talked about their website overview and the safety of Geo Medical lenses as well. So if you've checked 'em out, let's move on to the product review!

Specification of Geo Super Nudy:
Power Range: 0.00 ∼ -10.00
Diameter: 14.8mm
Base Curve: 8.6mm
Water Content: 40±2%
Lifespan: 1 year disposal

The curve and the zoomed version on my eyes.

Design: 5 out of 5
I picked this lens because I firstly thought the brown color is unlike any other brown lenses I've worn before. The texture and the color looks so vivid. I was amazed that this lens doesn't show up too much when it's worn, the very light brown color turned out to be surprisingly natural on my very dark brown eyes. I really, seriously love the result!

Enlargement: 4.5 out of 5
The limbal ring and diameter of the circle lens is just right for my small eye :D It gives quite enlargement but it doesn't look unnatural either. Well, unless you stare right into my eyes closely and pay attention to it.

Comfort: 4 out of 5
It's as comfortable as the Geo Princess Mimi, I could wear these lenses for 9 hours without any single eye drop prior to the application or after putting it on my eyes. I will start to feel the dryness after like 5 hours usage, though.

Overall: I am satisfied with the design, the result is more natural than my expectation but still gives a quite enlargement. These lenses are comfortable to wear as well! I've been using this lens in daily basis ^^

Price: USD 21.90 per pair

Final look with Geo Super Nudy in brown.

Lens care tips: Treat your circle lenses gently, wash your hands before application, rinse & disinfect each time you remove them, and dispose them when they start to cause dryness. Even if this lens has yearly lifespan, I won't use it for one year, I'll probably dispose after six months usage. I write the first time usage date of each lens on the back of the lens case (with a sticker and marker of course). I always insert and remove my lens from the left eye too, it has become a habit for me so I won't mix up the left and right lenses. This is the great way to avoid eye infection.

Last but not least, Geocolouredlenses.com offers FREE international shipping and a FREE lens case for each pair of circle contact lenses purchased. They'd even upgrade the shipping to express if you buy 5 pairs!

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JYJ - Thirty.

This is one of my most favorite tracks from their Just Us album. Why? Because, Yoochun (my ultimate bias) sings the whole song that mostly talks about life in his thirties, and you can hear Junsu's signature laughter a.k.a "eukyangkyang". OMONA~ What a bonus! I really like the whole album, they mostly talk about their personal life in this album, including the song Dad, You There? that tells us about Yoochun's longing to his dad. JYJ is one of a kind for me, it's sad that they're separated from TVXQ, but we've got to let it go. I miss their old days together, but I'm no longer hoping for them to reunite. Let alone the you-know-who-entertainment for being such an a$$. We have to always keep the faith that one day JYJ will have their own schedule on the major broadcasting networks!

Kim Jaejoong, fighting! Park Yoochun, fighting! Kim Junsu...... *forever trolling Junsu* *walks away*

Wednspiration #1

Hello my dear bumblebees! I would like to introduce you to the first post of Wednspiration. It's basically a combination of Wednesday + Inspiration. This Wednesday special post will contain inspiration sets related to fashion and beauty or just anything created by me.

The first set I wanted to share is about fashion, I am not into fashion to be honest, I only wear comfy casual outfit daily. I don't really have many pattern outfits, most of my outfits are basics, and most of them are black, gray and white haha! That explains why I always have a hard time finding my black outfit. I have so many of them, I once piled all the blacks I have on the floor and I literally have a mountain of them! Some people would probably say black is boring, but it's never for me, when you mix black with bright color, it definitely never be boring but instead, it looks classy and you'll have tons of different ways to make one black outfit to be wearable on different occasions. I'm just the type of person who loves building on the basics :) Then again, I'm not a stylish person, that opinion is just what I plant in my mind.

The Summer vibe is still in here! Bright pink is a color for Summer season. So here's my outfit inspiration for this Wednesday:

Get the look!

1. House of Harlow 1960 Nomadic Warrior Arrow Necklace
2. Monki Charlotte Jumpsuit
3. Cartier Santos Diamond Watch - 24mm 18K Yellow Gold
4. Alexander McQueen Cat Eye Sunglasses - Gold Black/ Brown Gradient
5. Marc By Marc Jacobs Enamel Logo Disc Stud Earrings - Fluoro Pink
6. Butter London Nail 999 Rescue System & Butter London Primrose Hill Picnic Nail Lacquer
7. Juicy Couture Viva La Fleur Eau De Toilette
8. Chanel Espadrilles
9. Saint Laurent Striped Small Sac De Jour
10. Monkeybrother Women's Ridge Wide Summer Beach Sun Hat Straw Cap

Pssst.. Did you know that black always makes you look slimmer?

Moving on to the beauty department, I think the Summer outfit that I just created will ideally suit a pink coral makeup. I myself love natural makeup look.

Get the look!

1. Tom Ford Lip Color Sheer in Paradiso
2. Urban Decay Naked 3
3. Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Luminous Flush
4. Urban Decay Naked Flushed in Native

Oh well, the Naked 3 and Naked Flushed have been on my wishlist for a long time actually! The shades are just perfect for medium skin tone like mine and tell me anyway who doesn't want these palettes? I think with this pink coral makeup look, it will compliment the warm yellow gold accessories in the outfit.

What do you think about these sets? And let me know where would you wear this outfit, my dear bumblebees.

Not A Prime Time

Finding the right product for your own skin is all about trial and error, right? Sometimes when it doesn't work, I'll just be like "Oh, too bad but it's okay." However, when it breaks out my skin, it will drive me crazy!

First time I purchased a primer was a year ago when I visited my sister in the States. I thought I needed a primer because I'd do a lot of outdoor activities from morning till night every single day. Not to mention it was Summer, surely I had to give an extra care to my oily T-zone.

Back then, I didn't read much of beauty blogs, so I asked my friends who is a makeup artist, and she told me Sephora collection has a decent primer at affordable prices. So yeah, a week after my arrival in NYC, I went to Sephora and purchased these two primers as I wasn't sure which one would work on me.

Sephora Perfecting Ultra-Smoothing Primer and Anti-Shine Foundation Primer.

My impression about Sephora Perfecting Ultra-Smoothing Primer, it did soften my skin, it did a good job at covering my pores, I loved the silky feeling of this primer. However, it kept flaking as I was following my makeup with BB cream, and it made my T-zone oilier than ever. Besides, I noticed how my forehead broke out with this primer and the packaging was not meant for this primer, the primer dried out at the nozzle, and it would form a blob. Meaning you've got to spare extra time cleaning it.

Moving on to the Anti-Shine Foundation Primer, I don't think if I can point out a good thing of this primer except that it's formulated without parabens just like the previously mentioned. This primer seriously didn't live up to the 8 hour oil control promise! I couldn't see how it made my skin less shiny. They especially formulated this without synthetic fragrance, but I dislike anything with bad smells sitting on my face unless it's beneficial to my skin. This primer has an overly chemical smell in it. What even worse, the pump was broken and nothing literally comes out due to the broken pump.

Well, you can actually just open the bottle packaging and scoop the primer with a cotton swab if you experience troubles with the pump like me, but both of the products left such unpleasant results so I didn't even bother to try them anymore. Now that I think about it again, why didn't I return these to Sephora since I wasn't pleased at all.

Price: USD 15

Remember that just because these products don’t work on me, it doesn't mean that they will not be effective on you. Everybody’s skin responds to different products in their own way. Additionally, if you're interested to read more reviews about primers that I've been using up to now, check out my review about Clarins Beauty Flash Balm and Etude House Face Conditioning.

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Let me share my most favorite K-dramas at the moment! I am totally hooked on Marriage Not Dating and It's Okay, It's Love! Been stalking their threads on Soompi's forums for the updates and speculations of the storyline LOL. So I would recommend these dramas to everyoneeee! ^^

Marriage Not Dating and It's Okay, It's Love.

Marriage Not Dating is like a breath of fresh air, you know. Certainly a thing you need after following makjang dramas, such as You're All Surrounded, Hotel King, and the current one; Temptation. I like how all of the casts have this chemistry (even in the BTS). The drama is full of comedic scenes in each episode makes me laugh my arse off. Although I hated Yeon WooJin's character in Arang and The Magistrate and I felt bad for him in When A Man Loves, I announce that he is my new eye candy because of this drama. Isn't he charming as a plastic surgeon?

Whereas It's Okay, It's Love is the kind of rom-com that you feel like it's just an average one at first. However, as I watched the 4th episode, it has completely changed my mind! There's a dark side in it where many characters (including both of the leads) have their own psychological disorders. One more reason why this drama catches my attention is because /SPOILER ALERTS/ Jo InSung, the male lead, suffers from Schizophrenia, a mental illness that I had particularly focused on ever since I wrote a short movie with a character that suffers from Schizophrenia too and I really enjoy watching a drama that triggers my curiosity. Jo InSung must get a Daesang for his role! Check out their OST and BGM too, they are so darn good. There's actually one upcoming OST that I and fellow users on Soompi have been curious about. Not so sure who the singers are, but it's such a lovely duet ballad song. Hopefully they will release it today.

UPDATED AT 5:50 PM: Finally!!! It's worth the long wait!
Crush feat. Punch - Sleepless Night.
I'm raping the replay button! The instrumental version is as lovely!

On another note, I wanted to share this exciting news... I have been selected to be the part of Beautifan review team!! Uuuuyeaaah~! I was like nonstop screaming "OMGOMG" when I read the email last month. I have picked some beauty products that I can hardly wait to review.

I would love to invite you, my dear bumblebees to join Beautifan's first giveaway! The giveaway is open worldwide, there would be 35 prizes for 35 winners!! The products that they will be giving away are 5 Mamonde Real Skin Founder, 10 Clio Virgin Kiss Lipnicure and 20 Etude House Dear Darling Tint. This giveaway will run for the whole month of August and winners will be chosen randomly via Rafflecopter.

Oops.. Sorry too much talking. Don't hesitate to share your current favorite K-dramas and if you're keeping up with those two dramas as well, let me know how do you like the show!

Gothic Crayon

[Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. I received the product for a review purpose, but the opinions are my own based on my experience.]

Hey bumblebees! Whoaaa, can you believe it's August already?! I feel like time flies so fast, faster than ever. A year ago around this month I was traveling to my dream city, while this year, I'm waiting for my thesis defense. I'm pretty curious what am I gonna do around this month next year :D

Okay, so I'm going to share my new circle lenses that were sent by Thedollyeye.com. I received two different sets with such color that I've never tried before, hazel and violet. As you probably know, I only wear something neutral like gray and brown, so I was wondering how it'll look on me ^^

The Dolly Eye Gothic 3tones in hazel and Crayon 217 in violet.

First of all, let me apologize to you that I don't have the packaging picture. I was messed up that time just because it arrived at my place altogether with my another circle lens sponsor so I jumped into my own conclusion that these ones are probably from the same sponsor. Moreover, the sender name was not The Dolly Eye and there was no name card attached inside as well, so that explains why I was confused T^T Even so, I realize it's such a stupid mistake because the bottle said The Dolly Eye and stated the website too -_-

I do still remember how it looked like when it came, though. The package arrived in a bubble wrapped brown envelope. Inside of the envelope was the circle lenses wrapped tightly with a magazine paper and I received a free case too.

Specification of The Dolly Eye Gothic 3tones:
Power Range: 0.00 ∼ -10.00
Diameter: 14.5mm
Base Curve: 8.6mm
Water Content: 38%
Lifespan: 3 months disposal

The curve.

Design: 3 out of 5

This lens has 3 tone colors; gold, yellow, and khaki. It has bright colors that appear well in my very dark brown eyes. However, one minus thing about this lens is that I spot the pixelated design, if you know what I mean. I just don't really like that because it looks a bit unnatural up close.

Enlargement: 4.5 out of 5

It has an extremely thin limbal ring to give a slight enlargement effect, and as you can see at the pictures above. I think the enlargement is just perfect for my small eyes despite the pixelated design :)

Comfort: 2.5 out of 5

The material feels as soft as my monthly lenses, but I had a hard time inserting the lens on my eye. I need to reapply it a couple of times because it hurts at the beginning dunno why. I can wear them for 5 hours with a couple of eyedrops at first application and after 3 hours.

Overall: I don't really like the pixelate texture of this lens and the fact I have comfort issue makes me feel like this lens is just not for me. However, if you look it in distance, this lens looks natural and gives a bigger looking eye.

Price: USD 18 per pair

Final look with The Dolly Eye Gothic 3tones in hazel.

Let's move on to another pair! This is a color that I've always wanted to try ever since high school! It's violet, my bumblebees!! One of my favorite colors after pink, white, black, and brown.

Specification of The Dolly Eye Crayon 217:
Power Range: 0.00 ∼ -10.00
Diameter: 14.8mm
Base Curve: 8.6mm
Water Content: 38%
Lifespan: 3 months disposal

The curve.

Design: 4 out of 5

This lens has 2 tone colors; black and violet. The design is very unique and I think the inner black ring is kinda cute when it's worn on people with light eyes. Not sure if it's gonna show up or not since it's black colored. I like the design, it makes my eyes sparkling and the violet color apparently doesn't look weird on me. I like it!

Enlargement: 4 out of 5

With diameter 14.8mm, I can say this enlargement effect looks quite big to me despite the thin limbal ring. However, I'm okay with the enlargement effect because this lens has a cute design that I like.

Comfort: 2.5 out of 5

Just like the Gothic 3tones, the material feels as soft as my monthly lenses. I had a hard time inserting the lens on my eye, and I had to reapply it a couple of times because it hurts. I can wear them for 5 hours with a couple of eyedrops at first application and after 3 hours.

Overall: Unfortunately, this lens aren't comfortable to wear. If only I don't experience comfort issue like this, I wouldn't mind to purchase another color with my own money because I simply like the design.

Price: USD 28 per pair

Final look with The Dolly Eye Crayon 217 in violet.

Lens care tips: Treat your circle lenses gently, wash your hands before application, rinse & disinfect each time you remove them, and dispose them when they start to cause dryness. Even if this lens has yearly lifespan, I won't use it for one year, I'll probably dispose after six months usage. I write the first time usage date of each lens on the back of the lens case (with a sticker and marker of course). I always insert and remove my lens from the left eye too, it has become a habit for me so I won't mix up the left and right lenses. This is the great way to avoid eye infection.

Last but not least, Thedollyeye.com offers free shipping worldwide by standard registered mail! Don't forget to check out their sister's website too at Coseye.net for more collections!