Skinfood concealers reviewed: Salmon Dark Circle Concealer Cream and Rice Concealer Tip

As much as I love mineral makeup, one thing it doesn't do for me is cover up my dark undereye circles.  The skin on my undereyes is also too dry for it, so I much prefer liquid or creamy concealers.  Enter my curiosity with Singaporean brand Skinfood.  I just had to check out these two concealers, which looked promising- the Salmon Dark Circle Concealer Cream and the Rice Concealer Tip.  Both come in only two shades, and I got the darker one for both.

Salmon Dark Circle Concealer Cream #23

As seen above, the Salmon Dark Circle Concealer Cream is packaged in a jar.  Mine probably tipped over to the side during transit and sorta melted which is why it looks like that.  It has a slight floral scent, which I don't  find bothersome.  It has a creamy consistency, which feels nice and moisturizing, but doesn't feel sticky.  Easy to spread too.  

The salmon undertone to it is a different shade from any other concealers I've tried, so I had high hopes that this would neutralize my purplish-greyish dark circles well.  I'd also read a number of raves for the product from fellow Asian bloggers.  It does deliver, but not as much as I'd hoped.  On days when I get a good night's sleep and my dark circles aren't as bad as they usually are, this works pretty good.  The shade does brighten up my eyes and gives a more refreshed, awake look to them.         

However, on the days that I really need my concealer to work on the dark circles I find so problematic, is when I don't reach for this.  I find that it does not provide enough coverage.  I only need a small amount, which I apply with my ring finger, and if I put on just a bit too much product,  I get that dreaded whitish/greyish cast or the reverse raccoon look.  Perhaps I needed something a bit darker...it's really too bad (and kinda ridiculous) that Skinfood's concealers only come in two shades.  

So, if you're looking to simply brighten up your undereye area or only have slight shadows under your eyes, do try this as it should work nicely.  But if you've got pretty extreme dark circles, like I do, I say skip this. 

Rice Concealer Tip #23

I bring my Rice Concealer Tip so often in my makeup pouch that the writing on it has rubbed off, hehe.  I use a clean finger to get a small amount of product off the sponge tip applicator and apply little by little underneath my eyes.  This has a mild scent to it too, which wears off after a while anyway.

The finish of this concealer is different from the Salmon concealer's.  It's liquid, not creamy, and has a matte, powder finish.  I was afraid that the matte texture would emphasize any dryness in my skin, but by making sure my undereyes are moisturized enough, as well as by using a primer (I currently use Sisley Instant Perfect), I was able to prevent that.  This dries relatively fast, so I have to try to blend it quickly.  Also, if I apply too much of it at once, it cakes.  Better to use just a smudge for each layer.  

I use this a lot because it gives great coverage.  If you check out the swatches below, you'll see that it is not sheer at all, so it does a good job of covering up my dark circles.  I wouldn't say it's HG material though, because it does fade about halfway through the day, and it doesn't completely, like 100% (yeah I have high expectations XD), cover the dark rings around my eyes.  But I do like it enough that I've finished up more than half of it.  And it's quite cheap! 

For a good, cheap fix for dark circles, yup, I'd recommend this!  I'm sure I'll be able to use up the entire tube, but I don't think I'll repurchase.  I'd rather try some other concealers  I've been curious about. :)   

Here are the swatches:

Under natural light, with flash.  Left - Salmon Dark Circle Concealer, Right - Rice Concealer Tip.

Under fluorescent light, with flash, same order.

Etude House Dr. Mascara Fixer For Natural Lash

I love it when people look at my eyes and after a moment ask, "Do you have makeup on?".  Hehe!  I don't always put makeup on when I go out these days, but when I'm in the mood to do a full face, I love putting a subtle emphasis on the eyes, which for me means a bit of eyeshadow, and lush, curled lashes.  

Falsies aren't for me, I still don't know how to put them on properly.  But with a good eyelash curler, mascara, and a mascara base like Etude House's Dr. Mascara Fixer For Natural Lash, I can achieve pretty, flirty, yet natural-looking lashes.

Etude House Dr. Mascara Fixer For Natural Lash can be worn both before and after mascara.  The 'Natural Lash' variant is supposedly for separating and lengthening lashes.  Cost me only around P300 or less than $6 at the nearby Etude House branch.

The applicator is easy to use and is just the right size for my lashes.  You can see a little bit of the product here, which is a clear and non-sticky gel.

I really don't like spidery, clumpy lashes and this mascara base helps prevent that, which is what I mainly use it for.  I find that applying this beforehand makes mascara application a lot easier- no more ugly clumps of mascara! I don't see much lengthening effect, but the gel does seem to help comb through lashes and separate them.  So I still get tinted, volumized lashes from my mascara without the heavy, clumpy look.

One coat is enough for each time, and I have to take care to put on mascara right away after using this, otherwise I end up with clumpy lashes again because the Mascara Fixer dries relatively quickly.  So what I do is curl both lashes first with my Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler, apply Dr. Mascara Fixer on one eye and immediately put on mascara, comb my lashes, then do the other eye.

The only thing I didn't like about this is that it had such a strong chemical scent when I first tried it that it made my eyes water.  But that didn't happen again with any succeeding applications and the smell seems to have faded now.  Overall, I consider this a pretty good, cheap find, and would buy the other variant (Perfect Lash) once I run out.

From my first visit to Etude House

So...everything at Etude House to me is like candy. It's either pink or some other bright color, it smells good, and it's just so cute. Etude House is a Korean brand which recently opened branches here in Manila though I'd never been until now 'cause the store was too far from our place. Just yesterday though a new branch opened nearby, so I went of course and got some things.



Left to right: sample of Precious Mineral BB Cream (gift with purchase), Plumping Lip Tint in red, Peach Water Gloss in Apricot, Auto Lipliner in a brown shade, Dr. Mascara Fixer for Natural Lash, Blackhead Off Finger Tip Silicon, and Good-bye Dark Circle Eye Patch.

I've only tried the Blackhead Off Finger Tip Silicon (the orange object on the right) and the Dr. Mascara Fixer so far. There are two of the Finger Tip Silicons, to be placed on each forefinger then rubbed on the nose, or any other areas with blackheads.


Its short, tiny bristles felt soft when I used it last night when I was washing my face, and afterward my bumpy nose felt smooth and soft. But when I woke up this morning it was dry and flaking. Did I rub too hard? Etude House has this small range of products specifically for getting rid of blackheads, I want to try those soon.

I want to test the Dr. Mascara Fixer for natural lash a couple of times more before I post a review. This can be used as both a mascara primer and topcoat. I saw two variants of this at the store by the way, one said 'for Perfect Lash', while the other said 'for Natural Lash'. I asked the sales assistant what the difference was, but she didn't know, so I just picked one. Anyway I found out later upon reading a beauty blog that Perfect Lash volumizes and curls lashes, while Natural Lash separates and lengthens. I dunno, why would I wanna separate my lashes? Kinda wish I'd gotten the other one. It seems to work well enough though!

They had a bunch more stuff I was intrigued by...and some not. There were fragrances that were packaged like dolls, which looked pretty, but none of the scents appealed to me at all. They had a bunch of body sprays too which all smelled pretty much the same and much like drugstore kids' colognes.


I'm definitely coming back though so I got myself a membership card, which will give me very small rebates in the future- 2% for every P100 purchase. Haha. Expect reviews on the other items soon.

Etude House Fresh Cherry Tints - Pretty!

I'm on a roll with the non-mmu posts! Haha. I must admit I've been trying more traditional makeup lately. For base makeup though, it's gotta be mmu. Otherwise, I will break out, I'm pretty sure because this is what happened the last few days. But for blush, eyeshadow, and lately, lippies, I love color so I love trying new things.

Like the Etude House Fresh Cherry Tints, in #2 Pink and #1 Red:



I saw these on one of my favorite beauty blogs (ABS- sooooo much eye candy here) months and months ago and was totally lemming for them, so it was a wonderful coincidence that Claudia had a few of these left as overstock from her last pre-order, which I missed. She was selling them at a reasonable price too, at PhP 340 each or around $7, so not like the ones up on ebay! Of course I grabbed them quickly. Here are swatches:


Looks and feels creamy upon application.


I smudged them with my finger. They're semi-dry here and look a bit like gloss...


Here's what the tints look like once dry, which doesn't take too long to happen.

A tip: exfoliate lips well and moisturize before using lip stains! This is why I didn't post a photo of the Fresh Cherry tints on my lips. But if applied on well-conditioned lips, these look lovely. Gives a real pretty pop of color! They stain very well, and staying power, for me, is excellent. I have to rub them off with a wet tissue to get the color off completely! Like with the last photo, I tried rubbing the swatch off my wrist with my shirt, but it would not budge. LOL.

They do make my lips dry though, like most lip stains do, but my lips are naturally pretty dry. I love putting a gloss over these, which solves that problem and lets me customize the color. I love both colors but if I had to choose between the two it'd be #2 Pink, which is a lighter color. And I like using these as cheek tints even more. These give me a subtle, beautiful flush of color. And I can blend them easily.

These also smell nice. I think they're supposed to smell like cherries, but to me they smell just like jellyace, a local brand of jelly candy. Yum!

I wish we had Etude House here like we do The Face Shop. Etude House products seem so much fun and girly. I'll definitely be trying more Asian brand cosmetics :)

Avon Glazewear Dimensions Lipsticks, from Kikay Exchange's blog anniversary!

Kikay Exchange, which I visit regularly and consider a good read and local shopping guide, recently had their third blog anniversary, for which they held a giveaway. I was one of the lucky winners and received five (five!!!) Avon Glazewear Dimensions Lipsticks. I was absolutely thrilled when I discovered I'd won. And believe me, I really needed something to cheer me up at that time. They were sent promptly, and I was quite excited when I got them, I kinda tore at the little boxes while opening them, hehe.




Here are the five shades I received:


Pink Glimmer, Rose With Gold, Spotlight Coral, Nude Gold, and Pink Sugar.


They go on sheer, with lovely fine shimmers that make my lips look a bit more pouty. Feels pretty light on too. I'm sorry I don't have swatches up by the way, I had trouble making the colors show up on my humble point and shoot camera.

I've only really worn Spotlight Coral so far and really liked it. The shimmers are so pretty! I gave my mom one and let her pick out a color she liked and she chose Pink Glimmer :)

So thank you again to Kikay Exchange and Jillsabs! You made this lipstick junkie quite happy! :)

P.S. I'd really like to do my own giveaways soon but I haven't gathered enough prizes yet :)

Lemming for...

Benefit Coralista!


Okay, I know it's been around for about a year now, but I don't know, I just noticed it now! The story behind this particular lemming:

This afternoon I ventured all the way to Makati (I live hours away) to get my little girl's medicine. I commuted and took the bus and a cab...I actually wanted to take the car but that's what I get for being too lazy to renew my license. Anyway, sorry I digress, after I got the medicine from Medical Plaza Makati, I again looked for a cab. I waited and tried to hail cab after cab but no success. I didn't want to wait anymore so I thought, hey I could just walk to Glorietta (this is the nearest mall). Ooh, even though I was entirely unfamiliar with the area I thought I had the greatest idea.

So I walked and walked and walked, and walked! Damn, it was far. I was sweating like a pig. I kept hoping I'd see Glorietta soon, and after walking more and more, I finally did! YAY!!! Upon entering the mall. I headed straight to the nearest bathroom and cleaned up. Looked at myself in the mirror...surprisingly decent! And I had the loveliest flush on my cheeks from the exercise. I loved the color of this natural flush.

I tried to remember if I had any blush with a similar color, and even though I've never tried it, Benefit Coralista came to mind.

I still love my mineral blushes but I'm also looking into collecting pressed blushes. Always been a lipstick girl, but lately, I find that I have a thing for blushes. I'm not sure if I should go ahead and get Coraista now though because I have loads and loads of mineral blushes (many samples, some full sized) that I haven't really used, some I haven't even touched!

So my question to you is, what do you think of the Benefit Coralista blush? Have you tried it? Should I buy it? :)